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C  E  C I L 


BT  77  . C23  H24 

Cecil,  Russell,  1853-1925. 

Hand  book  of  theology 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


V 


https://archive.org/details/handbookoftheoloOOceci 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


By  the 

Rev.  Russell  Xecil,  D.  D. 

Pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Richmond,  Va. 


Published  by 

Presbyterian  Committee  of  Publication 
Richmond,  Va. 


COPYRIGHT,  1923 

PRESBYTERIAN  COMMITTEE  OF  PUBLICATION 
RICHMOND,  VA. 


PRINTED  IN  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 
BY  WHITTET  &  SHEPPERSON 
RICHMOND,  VA. 


JEo 

MV 

gUma  JfliUer  Cecil 


2wr/  fjLOi)  crac  ayano) 


Table  of  Contents 


Page 

DEFINITION  OF  THEOLOGY .  7 

Part  I.— THEOLOGY  PROPER  .  9 

Chap.  I. — The  Existence  of  God .  11 

Chap.  II. — The  Nature  of  God .  17 

Chap.  III.— The  Purpose  of  God .  21 

Chap.  IV. — The  Works  of  God .  25 

Part  II.— ANTHROPOLOGY  .  29 

Chap.  V. — The  Origin  of  Man .  31 

Chap.  VI. — The  Nature  of  Man .  36 

Chap.  VII. — The  Moral  State  of  Man .  40 

Part  III.— SOTERIOLOGY  .  45 

Chap.  VIII. — The  Covenants  .  47 

Chap.  IX. — The  Redeemer  .  52 

Chap.  X. — The  Offices  of  Christ .  55 

Chap.  XI. — The  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit....  61 

Chap.  XII. — The  Graces  of  the  Spirit. .  65 

Chap.  XIII. — Benefits  Received  by  the  Be¬ 
liever  .  69 

Chap.  XIV. — The  Means  of  Grace .  72 

Part  IV.— ECCLESIOLOGY  .  75 

Chap.  XV. — The  Origin  oi;  the  Church .  77 

Chap.  XVI. — The  Nature  of  the  Church .  84 

Chap.  XVII. — The  Government  of  the  Church..  87 
Chap.  XVIII. — The  Functions  of  the  Church .  91 

Part  V.— ESCHATOLOGY  .  93 

Chap.  XIX. — The  State  of  the  Soul  After 

Death .  95 

Chap.  XX. — The  Second  Coming  of  Christ....  99 

Chap.  XXI. — The  Resurrection . 105 

Chap.  XXII. — The  End  of  the  World . 110 


4 


Preface 


This  brief  Hand  Book  of  Theology  has  been 
prepared  especially  for  the  use  of  students 
in  Theological  Seminaries,  Training  Schools, 
and  Bible  Classes.  The  effort  of  the  author 
has  been  to  make  a  clear  and  positive  state¬ 
ment  of  the  Reformed  Theology  without  en¬ 
tering  into  a  discussion  of  the  heresies  which 
have  troubled  the  Church  throughout  its  his¬ 
tory.  It  has  also  been  his  aim  to  emphasize 
the  practical  value  of  Theology  in  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  spiritual  life.  He  has  made 
free  use  of  proof  passages  from  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  in  the  Revised  Version  in  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  various  positions,  and  has  added  a 
list  of  questions  at  the  end  of  each  chapter 
for  the  aid  of  the  student  in  his  mastery  of 
the  subject. 


5 


INTRODUCTION 


Relation  of  Theology  to  Life 


Christian  life  and  Christian  doctrine  are 
intimately  related.  There  is  no  real  separa¬ 
tion  possible  between  them.  The  distinction 
made  between  the  two  is  only  a  matter  of 
convenience  in  thinking ;  they  cannot  be 
separated  in  practical  life.  No  separation  is 
contemplated  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Doc¬ 
trine  and  ethics  imply  each  other,  and  the 
apostles  often  speak  of  doctrine  as  relating  to 
moral  life.  The  study  of  Christian  doctrine, 
therefore,  is  necessary  to  the  complete  under¬ 
standing  of  Christian  life.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  speak  of  Christianity  being  a  life,  and  not 
a  creed.  It  is  both,  and  the  one  cannot  exist 
without  the  other.  No  one  can  live  the  Chris¬ 
tian  life  who  does  not  believe  in  Christian 
doctrine;  and  no  one  can  claim  to  be  a  be¬ 
liever  in  Christian  doctrine  who  is  not  will¬ 
ing  to  practice  Christian  living.  It  is  to  this 
end  that  this  brief  Hand  Book  of  Theology 
has  been  prepared.  Christian  life,  in  order 
to  be  intelligent  and  strong,  must  be  based 
upon  the  knowledge  of  Christian  doctrine; 
and  Christian  doctrine  must  manifest  itself 
in  Christian  living.  Christ  insisted  upon  this 
point  when  He  said,  “If  any  man  willeth  to 
do  His  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching 
whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  of 
myself.” 


6 


Definition  of  Theology 


Theology  is  the  science  of  God.  The 
sources  of  our  study  of  God  are  Nature  and 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  This  makes  it  neces¬ 
sary  to  study  theology  under  two  great  divi¬ 
sions,  Natural  Theology  and  Revealed  Theol¬ 
ogy.  Natural  Theology  is  concerned  with 
the  knowledge  of  God  to  be  derived  from  the 
study  of  natural  things,  including  the  nature 
of  man.  Revealed  Theology  is  concerned 
with  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  spiritual 
things  to  be  derived  from  a  study  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  In  consequence  of  the  subjects 
dealt  with,  theology,  therefore,  is  the  noblest 
of  the  sciences.  Theology  is  comprehensive, 
and  is  divided  into  five  parts : 

Part  I.  Theology  proper,  or  the  study  of 
the  existence,  nature,  purposes  and 
works  of  God. 

Part  II.  Anthropology,  or  the  study  of  the 
origin,  nature  and  destiny  of  man. 

Part  III.  Soteriology,  or  the  study  of  the 
Person  and  work  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  man. 

Part  IV.  Ecclesiology,  or  the  study  of  the 
Church — its  origin,  nature,  con¬ 
stitution  and  work. 


7 


Part 


V.  Eschatology,  or  the  study  of  last 
things  —  the  second  coming  of 
Christ,  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  the  final  judgment,  the  end 
of  the  world,  heaven  and  hell. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  the  relation  between  Christian  doctrine 
and  Christian  life? 

2.  Why  are  they  ever  separated? 

3.  What  is  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  upon  their 
relation  to  each  other? 

4.  Is  Christianity  a  creed  or  a  life? 

5.  What  does  Christ  Himself  say  about  it? 

6.  What  is  Theology? 

7.  What  are  the  sources  of  the  study  of  Theology? 

8.  What  are  the  two  great  divisions  of  Theology? 

9.  What  is  Natural  and  what  Revealed  Theology? 

10.  Into  how  many  parts  is  Theology  divided?  Name 

them. 


8 


PART  I. 

Theology  Proper,  or  the  Study  of  the  Exist¬ 
ence,  Nature,  Purposes  and  Works  of  God 


9 


Chapter  I. 


The  Existence  of  God 

From  the  standpoint  of  reason  we  cannot 
assume  the  existence  of  God.  We  must  begin 
with  the  study  of  the  things  about  us,  and 
endeavor  to  account  for  their  existence  and 
their  significance — not  only  of  the  things  in 
external  nature,  but  also  in  ourselves.  How 
did  the  natural  world  as  we  see  it,  including 
the  earth  and  the  heavenly  bodies,  come  into 
existence?  Where  did  we  ourselves  come 
from?  and  what  is  our  relation  to  this  world? 
Has  the  world  and  all  things  in  it  always 
existed?  Or  was  there  a  beginning?  and  if 
so,  how  did  these  things  begin  ?  Is  the  world 
the  result  of  chance,  or  must  we  look  for  an 
intelligent  Author  of  it?  This  brings  us 
to  the  question  of  the  existence  of  God,  and 
what  we  may  learn  upon  that  subject  from 
the  study  of  nature. 

1.  Nature 

There  are  several  arguments  for  the  ex¬ 
istence  of  God  which  are  well  worthy  of  our 
serious  examination : 

(a)  There  is  first  the  Ontological  argu¬ 
ment.  Ontology  is  the  science  of  being.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  this  argument  something  exists 


ll 


12 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


now,  and  something  must  have  existed  from 
all  eternity.  We  cannot  conceive  of  the  ma¬ 
terial  universe  as  having  existed  from  all 
eternity.  Whatever  has  existed  from  all 
eternity  must  be  self-existent,  or  necessarily 
existent.  But  the  self-existent  and  neces¬ 
sarily  existent  must  be  a  Being,  and  that 
Being  would  be  God. 

Another  aspect  of  this  argument,  sug¬ 
gested  by  Descartes,  is  the  idea  possessed  by 
men  of  one  infinitely  perfect  Being.  Whence 
came  this  idea?  It  could  not  have  been 
generated  in  the  human  mind.  The  idea  it¬ 
self  is  evidence  that  it  represents  an  objec¬ 
tive  reality. 

Still  another  aspect  of  the  Ontological 
argument  is  the  feeling  of  absolute  and  in¬ 
finite  dependence  common  to  man.  This  feel¬ 
ing  belongs  to  every  man’s  self-consciousness, 
and  represents  an  infinite  Being  upon  whom 
we  depend.  Modern  psychologists  insist  that 
this  idea  or  conception  of  God  as  an  infinitely 
perfect  Being  is  a  natural  development  in 
the  human  mind.  Such  a  development,  how¬ 
ever,  must  have  had  a  beginning ;  and  where 
could  the  starting  point  have  been  found  if 
man,  according  to  the  evolutionary  theory, 
was  originally  a  savage?  The  human  race 
is  possessed  of  this  remarkable  conception  of 
a  divine,  infinite  and  perfect  Being;  and  the 
natural  explanation  of  this  condition  is  that 
such  a  Being  actually  exists. 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


13 


(b)  The  Cosmological  argument.  Cos¬ 
mology  is  the  science  of  the  cosmos,  or  the 
world.  This  is  the  argument  from  effect  to 
cause.  Whatever  exists  must  have  a  cause. 
It  must  have  been  brought  into  existence  by 
something  outside  of  itself,  or  it  must  have 
come  into  existence  by  reason  of  something 
within  itself.  We  cannot  think  that  the 
world  is  self-existent.  The  cause  of  its  ex¬ 
istence  must  be  greater  than  the  effect ;  and 
we  argue  from  this  effect  to  God.  God  is  the 
great  Cause  of  the  universe. 

(c)  The  Teleological  argument.  Teleol¬ 
ogy  is  the  science  which  endeavors  to  es¬ 
tablish  the  existence  of  God  from  the 
existence  of  design  in  His  works.  The  uni¬ 
verse  is  full  of  design,  and  design  argues 
intelligence  behind  it.  In  all  vegetable  and 
animal  organizations,  and  especially  in  man 
himself,  there  is  an  evidence  of  the  adapta¬ 
tion  of  each  to  its  peculiar  circumstances  and 
purposes  in  life.  The  eye  is  formed  for 
light,  the  ear  for  sound,  and  the  other  senses 
to  meet  the  conditions  of  external  nature. 
This  evidence  of  intelligence  in  all  nature 
argues  an  intelligent  cause,  and  that  cause 
is  God. 

(d)  The  Moral  argument.  Man  has  a 
moral  nature,  and  the  seat  of  this  moral 
nature  is  the  conscience.  Our  conscience 
gives  us  a  sense  of  moral  accountability  to 
some  superior  Being.  Whence  does  this 
sense  of  moral  accountability  arise  if  there 


14 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


be  no  God?  Moral  nature  is  peculiar  to  man, 
and  man  only  in  the  natural  world  possesses 
the  idea  of  God  to  whom  he  is  responsible 
for  his  conduct  in  life.  He  is  essentially  a 
religious  being,  and  the  religious  instincts 
are  just  as  common  to  man  as  is  the  power 
of  reason. 

“What  nation  is  there,  or  what  race  of 
men,  which  has  not,  without  any  previous 
instruction,  some  idea  of  the  gods?  Now, 
that  in  which  all  men  agree  must  necessarily 
be  true.” — Cicero. 

2.  Revelation 

The  Holy  Scriptures  claim  to  be  a  revela¬ 
tion  of  God  to  man,  and  this  is  one  of  the 
sources  of  our  knowledge  in  the  study  of 
theology.  Our  knowledge  of  God  which  is 
derived  from  nature  is  important  and  valu¬ 
able;  but  it  is  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the 
needs  of  man.  Many  things  about  God  are 
revealed  to  us  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  which 
we  could  never  have  discovered  from  the 
study  of  nature.  The  Holy  Scriptures,  how¬ 
ever,  do  not  furnish  us  with  proofs  of  the 
existence  of  God.  The  existence  of  God  is 
assumed  in  the  Scriptures.  The  Scriptures 
begin  with  the  statement,  “In  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth no 
attempt  is  made  by  the  writers  of  revelation 
to  prove  the  existence  of  God. 

(a)  By  revelation  is  to  be  understood  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  of  divine  things  which 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


15 


could  not  have  been  discovered  by  the  un¬ 
aided  reason  of  man.  God  revealed  Himself 
to  men  by  appearing  to  them,  by  speaking 
to  them,  and  by  over-ruling  in  a  supernatural 
way  their  thoughts  and  actions.  He  often 
appeared  in  visions  and  in  dreams,  He  some¬ 
times  spoke  directly  to  men,  and  at  other 
times  through  voices  of  nature,  and  by  His 
providence  He  frequently  controlled  the 
thoughts  and  actions  of  men  for  the  accom¬ 
plishment  of  His  own  will. 

(b)  Inspiration  may  be  defined  as  the 
action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  minds  of 
men.  It  is  closely  related  to  revelation,  and 
yet  there  is  a  distinction  between  the  two. 
Men  were  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
make  known  what  God  revealed  unto  them 
to  others.  The  writers  of  the  Bible  acted 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
recording  the  facts  of  revelation.  We  un¬ 
derstand  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  an 
inspired  revelation  of  the  will  of  God. 

(c)  The  Bible  is  the  highest  authority 
that  we  have  in  divine  things.  It  is  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  We  can¬ 
not  depend  upon  natural  theology  for  our 
knowledge  of  God  and  of  His  will  concerning 
us;  but  we  must  search  the  Scriptures  and 
accept  of  their  teaching  as  our  final  authority 
in  matters  of  religion. 

(d)  The  Bible  contains  the  law  and  the 
gospel.  In  general  terms  the  law  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  gospel 


16 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


in  the  New  Testament.  In  a  careful  study 
of  the  Bible  of  course  it  should  be  considered 
in  its  different  parts.  The  Old  Testament 
consists  of  the  law,  the  historical  books,  the 
poetical  books,  and  the  prophetical  books. 
The  New  Testament  consists  of  the  gospels, 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  epistles,  and 
the  Book  of  Revelation. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  the  subject  to  be  studied  first? 

2.  How  shall  we  begin  this  study? 

3.  Are  there  any  arguments  for  the  existence  of 
God  to  be  found  in  Nature? 

4.  What  is  the  Ontological  argument? 

5.  The  Cosmological  argument? 

6.  The  Teleological  argument? 

7.  The  Moral  argument? 

8.  What  is  the  main  source  of  knowledge  in  the 
study  of  Theology? 

9.  Is  the  knowledge  of  God  derived  from  nature 
sufficient? 

10.  What  is  revelation? 

11.  What  is  inspiration? 

12.  What  is  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures? 

13.  Mention  the  main  divisions  of  the  Holy  Scrip¬ 
tures. 


Chapter  II. 


The  Nature  of  God 

Our  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  God  comes 
to  us  through  revelation.  We  may  know,  as 
appears  from  the  arguments  already  ex¬ 
amined  and  from  the  revelation  found  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  that  there  is  a  God.  But, 
inasmuch  as  we  are  finite  beings  we  cannot 
know  everything  about  God.  The  study  of 
nature  and  of  revelation  not  only  enables  us 
to  know  that  God  exists,  but  it  also  enables 
us  to  know  much  about  His  nature.  '‘For 
the  invisible  things  of  Him  from  the  creation 
of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  under¬ 
stood  by  the  things  that  are  made,  even  His 
eternal  power  and  God-head;  so  that  they 
are  without  excuse.  Because  that  when  they 
knew  God,  they  glorified  Him  not  as  God, 
neither  were  thankful;  but  became  vain  in 
their  imaginations,  and  their  foolish  heart 
was  darkened”  (Romans  1:20-21). 

(a)  The  Being  of  God .  God  is  a  spiritual 
Being.  He  is  a  pure,  perfect,  infinite  and 
eternal  Spirit;  “Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for 
ever  and  ever ;  the  sceptre  of  Thy  kingdom  is 
a  right  sceptre.  Thou  lovest  righteousness, 
and  hatest  wickedness;  therefore  God,  thy 
God,  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  glad¬ 
ness  above  thy  fellows”  (Psalm  45:6-7). 

17 


18 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


“Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth, 
or  ever  Thou  hadst  formed  the  earth  and  the 
world,  even  from  everlasting  to  everlasting, 
Thou  art  God”  (Psalm  90:2). 

“God  is  a  Spirit;  and  they  that  worship 
Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth”  (John  4:24). 

God  knows  all  things,  He  has  all  power, 
and  He  is  equally  present  in  all  parts  of  the 
universe;  “Whither  shall  I  go  from  Thy 
Spirit?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  Thy  pres¬ 
ence?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven  Thou  art 
there ;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold  Thou 
art  there,  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning, 
and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea ; 
even  there  shall  Thy  hand  lead  me,  and  Thy 
right  hand  shall  hold  me.  If  I  say,  Surely  the 
darkness  shall  cover  me ;  even  the  night  shall 
be  light  about  me”  (Psalm  139:7-11). 

(b)  The  Character  of  God.  God  is  holy. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  Him  as  capable  of  sin 
and  wrong-doing.  How  ever  sin  may  have 
gotten  into  our  world,  God  was  not  the  author 
of  it.  He  is  holy,  just  and  good,  and  nothing 
pertaining  to  evil  can  proceed  from  Hjis 
nature.  He  is  absolutely  true  and  incapable 
of  deception.  He  is  a  God  of  love,  of  mercy, 
of  patience,  and  of  long-suffering  in  dealing 
with  all  of  His  creatures.  “And  the  Lord 
passed  by  before  him,  and  proclaimed,  The 
Lord,  The  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious, 
long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and 
truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  for¬ 
giving  iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin” 
(Exodus  34:6-7). 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


19 


“Who  is  this  King  of  glory?  The  Lord 
strong  and  mighty,  the  Lord  mighty  in  bat¬ 
tle”  (Psalm  25:8).  “I  am  the  Lord,  your 
Holy  One”  (Isaiah  43:15).  “I  am  God,  and 
not  man ;  the  Holy  One  in  the  midst  of  thee” 
(Hosea  11 :9) .  “There  is  none  good  but  One, 
that  is  God”  (Matthew  19:17). 

“Holy  Father,  keep  through  Thine  own 
name  those  whom  Thou  hast  given  me,  that 
they  may  be  one,  as  we  are.  *  *  *  0 

righteous  Father,  the  world  hath  not  known 
Thee;  but  I  have  known  Thee”  (John  17 :11- 
25).  “God  is  love”  (I  John  4:8). 

(c)  The  Personality  of  God.  There  is 
only  one  God;  but  He  manifests  Himself  in 
three  Persons,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  relationship  between  the 
three  Persons  of  the  Godhead  is  eternal  and 
unchangeable.  The  Son  proceeds  from  the 
Father,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  proceeds  from 
both  the  Father  and  the  Son.  “Hear  O 
Israel :  The  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord” 
(Deuteronomy  6:4).  “Lord,  bow  down 
Thine  ear,  and  hear ;  open,  Lord,  Thine  eyes, 
and  see ;  and  hear  the  words  of  Sennacherib, 
which  hath  sent  him  to  reproach  the  living 
God”  (II  Kings  19:16). 

“Jesus  said  unto  them,  Tf  God  were  your 
Father,  ye  would  love  me;  for  I  proceeded 
forth  and  came  from  God;  neither  came  I 
of  myself,  but  He  sent  Me.”  “The  man  an¬ 
swered  and  said  unto  them,  ‘Why  herein  is 
a  marvelous  thing,  that  ye  know  not  from 


20 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


whence  He  is,  and  yet  He  hath  opened  mine 
eyes.”  “And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  He 
shall  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  He 
may  abide  with  you  forever;  even  the  Spirit 
of  truth.  *  *  *  But  the  Comforter,  which 
is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send 
in  my  name,  He  shall  teach  you  all  things, 
and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance, 
whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you.”  “Never¬ 
theless,  I  tell  you  the  truth;  it  is  expedient 
for  you  that  I  go  away ;  for  if  I  go  not  away, 
the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you.  *  * 

*  Howbeit  when  He,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is 
come,  He  will  guide  you  into  all  truth;  for 
He  shall  not  speak  of  Himself ;  but  whatso¬ 
ever  He  shall  hear,  that  shall  He  speak;  and 
He  will  show  you  things  to  come.  He  shall 
glorify  Me;  for  He  shall  receive  of  Mine, 
and  shall  shew  it  unto  you.”  “Holy  Father, 
keep  through  Thine  own  name  those  whom 
Thou  hast  given  Me,  that  they  may  be  one 
as  we  are  *  *  *  And  the  glory  which 

Thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them ;  that  they 
may  be  one,  even  as  we  are”  (John  8:42; 
10:30;  14:16-26;  16:7.  13-14;  17:11,22). 
“The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all.  Amen”  (II  Cor. 
13:14). 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Can  we  know  anything  of  the  nature  of  God? 

2.  Where  can  we  find  that  knowledge? 

3.  What  can  you  say  of  the  Being  of  God? 

4.  What  is  the  character  of  God? 

5.  What  can  we  say  about  the  personality  of  God? 


Chapter  III. 


The  Purposes  of  God 

Inasmuch  as  God  is  an  intelligent  Being, 
and  has  brought  all  things  in  the  universe 
into  existence,  He  must  have  had  intelligent 
purposes  in  mind,  and  plans  for  the  accom¬ 
plishment  of  those  purposes.  This  great 
truth  appears  from  the  study  of  the  natural 
universe,  and  also  from  the  study  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  There  are  a  number  of  terms 
employed  in  the  Scriptures  which  describe 
the  purposes  and  plans  of  God.  There  are 
such  terms  as  “decree,”  “foreordination,” 
“predestination”  and  “election.”  God  must 
have  foreseen  and  known  before  He  began 
the  work  of  creation  what  was  to  be  done. 
The  whole  scheme  and  plan  were  present  in 
His  consciousness.  We  cannot  conceive  of 
God  as  the  Creator  working  without  a  plan, 
any  more  than  we  can  conceive  of  an  in¬ 
telligent  builder  proceeding  to  erect  a  hand¬ 
some  edifice  without  a  plan. 

(a)  God  has  “foreordained  whatsoever 
comes  to  pass.”  This  appears  from  the  use 
in  the  Scriptures  of  the  words  which  have 
already  been  mentioned  above.  He  knew 
what  would  come  to  pass,  and  He  determined 
that  it  should  be  so.  There  is  frequent  men¬ 
tion  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  decrees  of  God, 
and  there  would  be  no  significance  in  a  decree 

21 


22 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


which  did  not  carry  with  it  the  idea  of  deter¬ 
mination.  “This  is  the  portion  of  a  wicked 
man  from  God,  and  the  heritage  appointed 
unto  him  by  God/  “Thou  shalt  also  decree  a 
thing,  and  it  shall  be  established.”  “He  made 
a  decree  for  the  rain,  and  a  way  for  the 
lightning  of  the  thunder.”  “And  marked  out 
for  it  my  bound,  and  set  bars  and  doors” 
(Job  20:29;  22:28;  28:26;  38:10).  “I  will 
tell  of  the  decree  Jehovah  said  unto  me,  Thou 
art  my  Son ;  this  day  have  I  begotten  Thee” 
(Psalm  2:7).  “He  hath  made  a  decree  which 
shall  not  pass  away”  (Psalm  148  ;6).  “It  is 
the  decree  of  the  Most  High,  which  is  come 
upon  my  Lord,  the  King”  (Daniel  4 :24) . 

(b)  The  Scriptures  also  make  frequent 
use  of  the  words  “predestination”  and  “elec¬ 
tion”  in  connection  with  the  purposes  and 
plans  of  God.  Predestination  seems  to  be  a 
broader  term  in  its  significance  than  election. 
It  has  reference  to  the  foreordination  of  God 
in  determining  events  in  nature  and  in  the 
affairs  of  men,  natural  and  spiritual ;  where¬ 
as  the  word  election  seems  to  have  reference 
to  the  exercise  of  God’s  grace  in  the  salvation 
of  men  from  their  sins.  “And  we  know  that 
to  them  that  love  God  all  things  work  to¬ 
gether  for  good,  even  to  them  that  are  called 
according  to  His  purpose.  For  whom  He 
foreknew,  He  also  foreordained  to  be  con¬ 
formed  to  the  image  of  His  Son,  that  He 
might  be  the  first-born  among  many  breth¬ 
ren:  and  whom  He  foreordained,  them  He 
also  called;  and  whom  He  called,  them  He 
also  justified:  and  whom  He  justified,  them 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


23 


He  also  glorified.”  (Romans  8:28-30).  “Even 
as  He  chose  us  in  Him  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world.”  *  *  *  Having  foreordained 
us  unto  adoption  as  sons  through  Jesus 
Christ  unto  Himself,  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  His  will”  (Eph.  1:4-5).  “In 
whom  also  we  were  made  a  heritage,  having 
been  foreordained  according  to  the  purpose 
of  Him  who  worketh  all  things  after  the 
counsel  of  His  will”  (Eph.  1:11).  “As  many 
as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life  believed” 
(Acts  13:48).  The  words  “foreordination,” 
“predestination”  and  “election”  are  also  fre¬ 
quently  used  in  the  Scriptures  concerning 
the  mission  and  work  of  Christ  in  the  world 
for  the  redemption  of  sinful  men.  “I  will 
tell  of  the  decree:  Jehovah  said  unto  me, 
Thou  art  my  Son;  this  day  have  I  begotten 
Thee”  (Psalm  2:7)  ;  “For  the  Son  of  Man 
indeed  goeth,  as  it  hath  been  determined” 
(Luke  22:22)  ;  “Him  being  delivered  up  by 
the  determined  counsel  and  foreknowledge 
of  God,  ye  by  the  hand  of  lawless  men  did 
crucify  and  slay  (Acts  2:23)  ;  “Whom  God 
set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith 
in  His  blood,  to  show  His  righteousness  be¬ 
cause  of  the  passing  over  of  the  sins  done 
aforetime,  in  the  forbearance  of  God” ; 
“Them  that  are  called  according  to  His  pur¬ 
pose”  ;  “For  the  children  being  not  yet  born, 
neither  having  done  anything  good  or  bad, 
that  the  purpose  of  God  according  to  election 
might  stand,  not  of  works,  but  of  Him  that 
calleth,  it  was  said  unto  her,  ‘The  elder  shall 
serve  the  younger’”  (Romans  3:25;  8:28; 


24 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


9:11-12)  ;  “Peter,  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  the  elect”;  “Who  was  foreknown  indeed 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world”  (I  Peter 
1 :2  and  20) . 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  can  you  say  about  the  purposes  of  God? 

2.  Mention  some  of  the  words  used  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  bearing  upon  this  subject. 

3.  What  is  the  meaning  of  fore-ordination? 

4.  What  is  the  meaning  of  predestination? 

5.  What  is  the  meaning  of  election? 


Chapter  IV. 


The  Works  of  God 

1.  In  Creation.  God  is  the  Creator  of  all 
things.  He  only  exists  from  eternity  to 
eternity,  and  by  His  all-wise  and  almighty 
power  has  brought  all  other  things,  men  in¬ 
cluded,  into  existence.  We  cannot  conceive 
of  the  material  universe  as  having  always 
existed,  or  as  being  self-existent ;  but  it  owes 
its  existence  to  the  creative  power  of  God. 
“In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth” ;  “And  God  said,  ‘Let  us  make 
man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness.  *  *  * 
And  God  created  man  in  His  own  image,  in 
the  image  of  God  created  He  him  male  and 
female,  created  He  them”  (Gen.  1:1;  26-27) . 

“By  the  work  of  Jehovah  were  the  heavens 
made,  and  all  the  host  of  them  by  the  breath 
of  His  mouth.  He  gathereth  the  waters  of 
the  sea  together  as  a  heap ;  He  layeth  up  the 
deeps  in  store-houses;  For  He  spake  and  it 
was  done ;  He  commanded,  and  it  stood  fast” 
(Psalm  33:6-9).  “In  the  beginning  was  the 
Word  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the 
Word  was  God  *  *  *  All  things  were 

made  through  Him;  and  without  Him  was 
not  anything  made  that  hath  been  made” 
(John  1  :l-3). 


25 


26 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  gives  an  ac¬ 
count  of  creation,  and  from  this  account  we 
learn  that  it  was  a  progressive  work.  God 
brought  the  materials  of  the  natural  universe 
into  existence  by  the  word  of  His  power,  and 
then  proceeded  to  gradually  work  the  ma¬ 
terials  into  an  elaborate  and  diversified 
organism.  Apparently  no  new  material  was 
introduced  after  the  first  act  of  creation; 
but  God  called  into  existence  light  and  the 
various  forms  of  life  from  day  to  day  as  He 
proceeded  in  the  development  of  His  plan. 
It  was  by  the  exercise  of  His  all-mighty 
power  that  things  were  made  to  live  in  the 
vegetable  and  animal  world;  and  when  man 
was  created,  out  of  existing  material,  God 
“breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life; 
and  man  became  a  living  soul.”  How  much 
time  was  expended  in  the  elaboration  of  the 
works  of  nature  we  are  not  able  to  determine. 
There  were  at  least  six  periods  of  time  con¬ 
sumed  in  this  work;  but  it  is  not  necessary 
for  us  to  interpret  the  word  “day”  used  in  this 
first  chapter  of  Genesis  as  meaning  a  day 
of  twenty-four  hours.  It  may  have  been, 
following  the  use  of  the  word  in  other  parts 
of  the  Scriptures,  a  period  of  much  longer 
duration.  The  main  point  for  us  to  know 
and  believe  is  that  God  was  the  Creator  of 
all  things  and  beings  that  now  exist  in  the 
universe  apart  from  Himself. 

2.  The  Works  of  God  in  Providence.  The 
works  of  God  in  Providence  consist  in  His 
control  over  His  creatures  and  His  preserva- 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


27 


tion  of  them.  The  creatures  of  God  are  not 
forsaken  of  Him  and  left  entirely  alone  in 
the  determination  of  their  own  actions.  Man 
is  a  free  agent,  and  consciously  free  in  the 
exercise  of  the  powers  of  mind  and  body; 
and  yet  at  the  same  time  he  is  consciously 
dependent  upon  the  power  and  goodness  of 
God.  He  is  not  able  to  foresee  what  will 
transpire  in  the  future,  even  within  the 
bounds  of  his  own  life.  He  does  not  know 
whether  good  or  evil  will  befall  him.  He 
knows  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth.  But 
the  man  who  believes  in  God  may  rest  as¬ 
sured  that  all  things  are  controlled  by  his 
heavenly  Father;  and,  using  the  words  of 
the  apostle  Paul,  he  may  “know  that  all 
things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God,  to  them  who  are  the  called  accord¬ 
ing  to  His  purpose”  (Romans  8:28). 

The  providence  of  God  is  not  only  all  com¬ 
prehensive,  but  it  also  descends  to  the  min¬ 
utest  particulars  of  our  daily  existence. 
Nothing  escapes  the  vision  or  the  power  of 
God.  All  things  are  under  His  government, 
and  all  things  owe  their  continued  existence 
to  His  will. 

3.  The  Works  of  God  in  Redemption.  The 
works  of  God  in  redemption  are  revealed  to 
us  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  whole  scheme 
of  redemption  is  a  revelation.  The  divine 
activity  in  this  regard  manifests  itself  in  the 
history  of  mankind.  In  our  study  of  the 
works  of  God  in  redemption  it  is  necessary 
to  study  man ;  and  this  leads  us  to  the  second 


28 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


part  of  Theology,  which  inquires  into  God’s 
relation  to  and  dealings  with  human  beings. 
Indeed  all  of  the  other  parts  of  Theology  are 
occupied  with  explaining  and  discussing  the 
works  of  God  in  redemption. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Under  what  three  heads  do  we  study  the  works 
of  God? 

2.  What  do  we  mean  by  the  works  of  God  in 
creation? 

3.  Does  man  owe  his  existence  to  the  creative  power 
of  God? 

4.  What  is  his  relation  to  nature  about  him? 

5.  How  long  was  God  occupied  in  the  work  of 
creation? 

6.  What  are  God’s  works  of  providence? 

7.  Is  anything  that  concerns  the  activities  of  the 
universe  to  be  excepted  in  the  providential  gov¬ 
ernment  of  God? 

8.  Does  God  in  His  providence  control  the  lives  of 
men? 

9.  What  is  meant  by  human  free  agency? 

10.  Whence  do  we  arrive  at  our  knowledge  of  God’s 
works  in  redemption? 

11.  What  creatures  of  God  are  concerned  in  re¬ 
demption? 

12.  How  large  a  place  does  the  study  of  the  works 
of  redemption  occupy  in  Theology? 


PART  II. 


Anthropology,  or  the  Study  of  Man 


29 


Chapter  V. 


The  Origin  of  Man 

Anthropology  is  treated  as  a  department 
of  Theology  because  we  know  nothing  of  God 
except  in  His  relation  to  man.  It  is  possible 
for  us  to  have  a  conception  of  God  as  in¬ 
dependent,  apart  and  separated  from  man; 
but  we  really  know  nothing  of  Him  except 
as  He  has  made  Himself  known  to  us  in 
nature  and  in  revelation.  For  this  reason 
some  students  of  Theology  insist  upon  be¬ 
ginning  the  study  of  Theology  with  man. 
The  true  method,  however,  is  to  begin  with 
God,  the  only  eternal  and  omnipotent  Being, 
the  Source  of  all  men  and  all  things.  It  is 
through  the  study  of  Theology  proper,  the 
being  and  relations  of  God,  that  we  come  to 
understand  much  about  man.  Not  only  is 
God  made  known  to  us  in  external  nature 
and  in  the  Scriptures ;  but  man  also  is  made 
known  to  us  through  the  same  sources.  We, 
of  course,  have  an  important  knowledge  of 
man  in  our  own  experience  and  in  the  ob¬ 
servation  of  people  with  whom  we  associate ; 
but  we  cannot  in  this  way  learn  all  about 
man,  especially  his  origin  and  his  destiny. 

1.  Man  had  a  beginning.  We  cannot  be¬ 
lieve  that  he  has  always  existed,  or  that  he  is 
self-existent.  He  belongs  to  the  natural 
world  and  is  an  essential  part  of  it;  and 

31 


32 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


inasmuch  as  the  natural  world  had  a  be¬ 
ginning  man  must  also  have  had  a  beginning. 
There  was  a  time  when  he  did  not  exist ;  that 
fact  has  been  discovered  from  the  study  of 
nature.  It  is  made  plain  to  us  by  the  science 
of  Geology  that  the  earth  existed  through 
many  different  periods  before  man  appeared 
upon  it.  He  was  not  the  first  form  of  life, 
but  was  the  last  and  most  highly  organized 
form  of  life.  In  the  early  stages  of  the 
earth’s  existence  preparation  was  being 
made  for  the  appearance  of  man.  When  he 
at  last  appeared  it  was  as  the  crown  of  the 
works  of  God,  he  was  God’s  masterpiece. 

2.  Man  was  not  an  evolution  in  the  sense 
that  he  sprang  from  lower  classes  of  animals 
which  preceded  him.  There  was  undoubtedly 
a  development  in  the  origin  of  the  earth  and 
of  all  forms  of  life  in  it.  But  the  evidence  is 
not  sufficient  to  prove  that  one  form  of  life 
came  from  another.  There  is  nothing  really 
to  show  that  *“the  promise  and  potency  of  all 
terrestrial  life”  existed  in  the  original  ele¬ 
ments  of  matter.  Geology  teaches  us  that 
there  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  earth 
when  only  matter  existed;  but  it  does  not 
teach  us  that  life  was  developed  of  itself  out 
of  the  original  matter,  or  that  the  various 
forms  of  life  in  the  ascending  scale  up  to 
man  were  developed  from  a  power  within 
life  itself.  We  are  not  justified  from  our 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  material  things 

*John  Tyndall  in  Address  before  British  Associ¬ 
ation  Aug.  19,  1874  (vide  Fragments  of  Science, 
Vol.  II.,  page  191.) 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


33 


in  believing  that  man  is  the  result  of  an 
evolutionary  process  without  the  creative  and 
controlling  hand  of  God. 

3.  The  origin  of  man  cannot  be  accounted 
for  except  by  the  creative  hand  of  God.  The 
method  of  God  in  the  process  of  creation  is 
not  fully  revealed  to  us,  either  in  nature  or 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Man  was  made  out 
of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  which  of  course 
signifies  that  he  was  formed  of  previously 
existing  material,  and  that  God  breathed  into 
him  “the  breath  of  life,”  but  the  various 
steps  of  the  process  are  not  indicated  un¬ 
mistakably  either  in  nature  or  in  revelation. 
According  to  Geology  there  was  a  develop¬ 
ment  process  in  the  works  of  creation;  and 
this  is  just  as  true  in  the  account  given  to 
us  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  There  is  nothing 
irreconcilable  in  these  two  stories  of  man’s 
origin.  The  Biologist  may  think  that  he  can 
account  for  the  origin  of  man  by  the  theory 
of  evolution,  but  when  he  has  told  us  all  that 
he  can  possibly  tell  us,  based  upon  established 
facts  of  science,  we  have  only  a  philosophical 
theory  of  the  origin  of  man,  which  is  un¬ 
satisfactory  to  the  unprejudiced  mind.  The 
story  of  man’s  origin  in  the  Bible  is  not  in¬ 
consistent  with  these  established  facts  of 
science,  and  is  much  more  satisfactory  to 
serious-minded  people.  Man  is  one  of  God’s 
creatures,  the  greatest  of  all  His  creatures, 
and  the  most  like  God  Himself.  Christians 
are  sometimes  accused  of  thinking  of  God  as 
an  enlarged  man.  If  we  accept  the  story  of 


34 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


man's  origin  and  history  as  given  to  us  in 
the  Bible,  we  have  a  right  to  believe  that 
God  is  more  like  man  than  like  anything  else 
which  is  known  to  us.  Man  was  made  in  the 
image  of  God.  “And  God  said,  Let  us  make 
man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness.  *  *  * 
And  God  created  man  in  His  own  image,  in 
the  image  of  God  made  He  him."  “In  the 
day  that  God  created  man,  in  the  likeness  of 
God  made  He  him"  (Gen.  1:26-27;  5:1). 
“God  made  man  upright;  but  they  have 
sought  out  many  inventions"  (Eccl.  7:29)  ; 
“God  sending  His  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of 
sinful  flesh"  (Rom.  8:3)  ;  “For  a  man  indeed 
ought  not  to  have  his  head  veiled,  forasmuch 
as  he  is  the  image  and  glory  of  God"  (I  Cor. 
9:7)  ;  “But  we  all,  with  unveiled  face  behold¬ 
ing  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are 
transformed  into  the  same  image  from  glory 
to  glory"  (II  Cor.  3:18)  ;  “And  put  on  the 
new  man,  that  after  God  hath  been  created 
in  righteousness  and  holiness  and  truth" 
(Eph.  4:24)  ;  “But  emptied  Himself,  taking 
the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the 
likeness  of  men;  and  being  found  in  fashion 
as  a  man"  (Philipp.  2 :7)  ;  “Whereby  He  hath 
granted  unto  us  His  precious  and  exceeding 
great  promises;  that  through  these  ye  may 
become  partakers  of  the  divine  nature"  (II 
Peter  1:4).  It  is  certainly  true  that  if  man 
is  like  God,  then  God  must  also  in  some 
respects  be  like  man. 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


35 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  Anthropology? 

2.  Why  should  the  study  of  Theology  begin  with 
God? 

3.  Why  do  we  think  that  man  had  a  beginning? 

4.  Is  there  sufficient  reason  produced  by  scientific 
investigation  to  prove  that  man  is  a  product  of 
evolution? 

5.  What  reason  have  we  for  believing  that  man  was 
created  by  God? 

6.  Is  there  any  irreconcilable  difference  between  the 
established  facts  of  nature  and  the  story  of 
revelation  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  man? 


Chapter  VI. 


The  Nature  of  Man 

1.  In  the  constitution  of  his  person  man  is 
a  composite  being,  that  is,  he  has  both 
body  and  soul— a  material  and  a  spiritual 
nature.  The  relation  between  these  two 
elements  of  man’s  nature  is  mysterious  and 
difficult  of  comprehension.  It  is  impossible 
to  understand  and  describe  this  relationship 
in  a  perfectly  satisfactory  manner.  There 
is  a  soul  and  there  is  a  body  in  every  man, 
and  each  of  these  has  an  existence  separate 
and  apart  from  the  other ;  and  yet  it  is  neces¬ 
sary  for  them  to  be  united  under  certain 
unchangeable  conditions  in  order  to  effect 
the  existence  of  a  man.  A  human  body  with¬ 
out  a  soul  is  not  a  man,  and  a  human  soul 
without  a  body  is  not  a  man.  The  two  must 
come  together  and  live  together  in  order  to 
constitute  a  man.  How  much  of  the  per¬ 
sonality  of  a  man  is  body,  and  how  much  is 
soul,  we  cannot  tell.  Which  of  these  two 
elements  is  the  controlling  influence  in  a 
man’s  life  is  not  always  perfectly  evident. 
Sometimes  the  material  element  seems  to 
predominate,  at  other  times  the  spiritual 
element  predominates.  The  body  of  man  is 
made  of  material  things,  it  is  wholly  ma¬ 
terial,  composed  of  the  elements  of  matter  in 

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37 


certain  organized  form,  and  it  seems  to  be 
perfect  without  the  presence  of  the  soul ;  and 
yet  if  the  soul,  or  spiritual  nature,  withdraws 
from  the  man  he  no  longer  lives.  The  soul 
also  has  an  existence  apart  from  the  body, 
of  which,  however,  little  is  known  to  us.  The 
principal  reason  for  this  lack  of  knowledge 
of  the  soul  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  spir¬ 
itual,  and  a  spirit  is  not  cognizable  by  our 
material  sense.  We  cannot  see,  hear,  touch, 
taste  or  smell  a  spirit;  the  very  fact  that  it 
is  a  spirit  removes  it  from  the  sphere  of  the 
senses,  and  as  we  are  dependent  in  a  large 
measure  upon  the  exercise  of  our  senses  for 
our  knowledge  we  are  unable  to  have  the 
same  kind  of  contact  with  the  soul  indepen¬ 
dent  and  separate  from  the  body  as  we  can 
have  of  the  body  independent  and  separate 
from  the  soul. 

2.  Man  is  an  immortal  being .  He  had,  as 
we  have  said,  a  beginning;  but  he  is  to  live 
forever.  He  is  not  to  live  forever,  however, 
in  his  present  condition.  The  present  re¬ 
lation  between  the  soul  and  the  body  is  not 
immortal.  The  soul  is  immortal,  but  the 
body  is  subject  to  dissolution.  The  eternal 
life  of  man  is  resident  in  his  soul.  It  is  in 
his  soul  that  he  is  most  intimately  related 
to  God;  and  when  God  breathed  into  man 
“the  breath  of  life”  it  was  this  element  of 
his  nature  which  became  immortal.  God  in 
creating  man  did  not  propose  for  him  to  die 
eternally,  but  to  live  as  long  as  He  Himself 
lives ;  and  He,  as  we  know,  is  from  everlast¬ 
ing  to  everlasting. 


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Hand  Book  of  Theology 


(a)  It  may  be  argued  that  man  is  im¬ 
mortal  because  he  possesses  this  feeling  and 
desire  to  live  forever;  and  this  implies  that 
there  must  be  some  reality  existing  cor¬ 
responding  to  it.  Where  did  man  get  his 
idea  of  an  immortal  life  for  himself,  and  a 
desire  to  live  forever,  unless  that  idea  and 
desire  were  given  to  him  by  his  Maker?  We 
have  certain  faculties  of  the  soul,  like  mem¬ 
ory  and  imagination,  which  are  concerned 
in  the  main  with  our  spiritual  existence,  and 
which  seem  to  be  without  purpose  in  their 
existence  unless  there  is  some  reality  in  the 
pictures  of  spiritual  life  which  we  can  paint 
for  ourselves  in  the  use  of  these  faculties. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  the  great  minds 
throughout  the  history  of  the  race,  many  of 
them  destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  God  given 
to  us  by  revelation,  have  come  to  believe  in 
the  immortality  of  the  human  soul. 

(b)  Our  real  knowledge,  however,  of  the 
fact  that  man  is  an  immortal  being,  comes 
from  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  whole  scheme 
of  redemption  is  based  upon  the  spiritual 
immortal  nature  of  man.  There  would  really 
be  nothing  in  the  Bible  of  any  great  value 
to  us  unless  we  are  immortal  beings,  and  are 
to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  future  life  pro¬ 
vided  for  and  described  in  the  book  of  God. 

3.  Man  is  a  moral  and  responsible  being. 
He  differs  in  this  respect  from  the  other 
animals,  which  we  speak  of  as  the  lower 
animals.  He  has  a  moral  nature,  with  an 
idea  of  God  and  of  his  obligation  to  God. 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


39 


There  is  nothing  to  show  that  any  other  of 
the  animals,  even  those  of  the  higher  order, 
have  any  conception  of  God  or  have  any 
moral  ideas.  Many  of  the  animals  have  a 
low  form  of  intelligence,  and  can  be  trained 
to  do  remarkable  things.  But  there  are  no 
facts  to  show  that  even  the  most  intelligent 
of  them  have  a  moral  nature — any  idea  of 
God  as  a  supreme  Being,  and  of  an  eternal 
existence.  It  is  in  this  regard,  especially 
that  man  is  the  crown  of  God’s  creative  work. 
He  is  thus  separated  and  distinguished  from 
all  other  animals,  by  living  in  a  sphere  be¬ 
yond  their  comprehension. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  are  the  two  elements  in  the  composition  of 
man’s  personality? 

2.  State  the  distinction  between  the  human  body 
and  the  human  soul. 

3.  Which  element  in  the  composition  of  man  is  im¬ 
mortal?  Why? 

4.  What  argument  is  there  in  the  nature  of  man  for 
his  immortality? 

5.  Where  is  our  knowledge  of  the  immortality  of 
man  to  be  found? 

6.  What  is  meant  by  saying  that  man  is  a  moral 
and  responsible  being? 

7.  In  what  respect  does  he  differ  from  the  lower 
animals? 


Chapter  VII. 


The  Moral  State  of  Man 

The  most  puzzling  problem  in  human  his¬ 
tory  is  the  moral  state  of  man.  He  is  not  hap¬ 
py  or  contented,  and  something  is  seriously 
the  matter  with  him.  What  is  this  some¬ 
thing?  Why  is  it  that  man  cannot  live  in 
peace  and  contentment  in  this  beautiful 
world?  Is  there  some  mistake  in  his  com¬ 
position,  or  is  he  not  properly  adapted  to  the 
environment  in  which  he  finds  himself?  Why 
is  so  much  of  his  time  spent  in  sickness  and 
suffering,  and  in  dissension  and  strife? 
“Whence  come  wars  and  fightings  among” 
men? 

1.  Man  was  created  in  innocence,  but  with 
the  capacity  for  doing  evil.  We  learn  from 
the  Holy  Scriptures  that  God  pronounced  all 
of  His  work  good :  “God  saw  everything  that 
He  had  made,  and  behold  it  was  very  good” 
(Gen.  1:81).  We  cannot  conceive  of  God 
having  created  man  imperfectly,  that  would 
imply  a  failure  on  His  part.  Unless  he  had, 
for  some  good  reason  known  only  to  Himself, 
designed  to  bring  into  existence  an  imperfect 
being.  We  cannot  find  anything  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  teaching  such  a  doctrine.  Man 
was  created,  however,  with  very  remarkable 
capacities.  He  is  a  creature  of  God  who  is 

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Hand  Book  of  Theology 


41 


consciously  able  to  turn  about  and  face  his 
Maker  and  defy  Him.  He  was  so  much  like 
God  Himself  in  the  original  constitution  of 
his  nature  that  he  was  capable  of  rebelling. 

2.  The  present  condition  of  man  is  due  to 
his  unwillingness  to  submit  to  the  command 
of  God.  “God  hath  made  man  upright;  but 
they  have  sought  out  many  inventions’’  (Ec¬ 
clesiastes  7:29).  It  was  possible  for  man  to 
sin,  and  he  did  sin.  The  question  of  the 
origin  of  sin,  or  how  it  came  into  the  world, 
is  a  difficult  one.  We  must  be  careful  in  our 
thinking  not  to  make  God  the  Author  of  sin. 
In  the  Holy  Scriptures  sin  is  introduced  into 
the  life  of  human  beings  by  the  enticement 
of  an  evil  being  called  Satan.  How  sin  got 
into  the  heart  of  Satan  is  beyond  our  com¬ 
prehension.  Why  he  should  have  desired  to 
entice  men  into  evil  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
say.  We  are  driven  to  this  position,  that  it 
is  the  nature  of  evil  to  produce  evil,  and  it 
is  therefore  the  nature  of  the  evil  one  to 
entice  other  beings  into  evil.  The  important 
thing  for  us  to  know,  however,  is  that  when 
sin  came  into  the  world,  and  into  the  life  of 
man,  it  brought  destruction  with  it.  Evil 
brings  forth  evil,  and  only  evil,  continually. 
When  man  disobeyed  the  command  of  God 
he  fell  from  the  high  estate  in  which  he  had 
been  created,  his  moral  nature  henceforth 
was  corrupted  and  weakened,  indeed  it  is  dif¬ 
ficult  in  human  language  to  describe  all  the 
terrible  consequences  of  sin.  The  depravity 
of  man  is  a  melancholy  subject  to  deal  with. 


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Hand  Book  of  Theology 


(a)  First  as  to  the  extent  of  his  depravity. 
What  are  the  consequences  of  the  fall  ?  Man 
violated  the  law  of  God,  and  came  under  the 
power  of  its  penalty.  The  command  of  God 
to  him,  in  regard  to  the  forbidden  fruit,  was, 
“In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou 
shalt  surely  die.”  In  disobeying  the  command 
of  God  man  incurred  the  condemnation  of 
the  law  of  God,  and  the  penalty  of  the  law  is 
death.  He  not  only  incurred  the  guilt  of  sin, 
but  he  also  came  under  its  power.  All  of  the 
faculties  of  his  soul  were  weakened  and  cor¬ 
rupted  by  sin,  and  none  of  them  escaped. 
His  intellect  was  injured  by  sin;  his  judg¬ 
ment  came  so  under  its  power  that  it  cannot 
be  trusted;  his  imagination  was  corrupted; 
his  will  was  broken  down,  his  conscience  was 
weakened;  there  was  not  one  of  the  human 
faculties  that  escaped  the  paralyzing  and 
degrading  dominion  of  sin.  It  is  in  this  sense 
that  man  is  totally  depraved— every  part  of 
his  nature  is  weakened  and  corrupted  by  sin. 
“And  Jehovah  saw  that  the  wickedness  of 
man  was  great  in  the  earth,  and  that  every 
imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was 
only  evil  continually”  (Gen.  6:5). 

(Psalms  14:  and  53)  “For  as  many  as 
have  sinned  without  the  law  shall  also  perish 
without  the  law;  and  as  many  as  have  sin¬ 
ned  under  the  law  shall  be  judged  by  the 
law”;  “There  is  none  righteous,  no  not  one; 
there  is  none  that  understandeth,  there  is 
none  that  seeketh  after  God;  they  have  all 
turned  aside,  they  are  altogether  become  un¬ 
profitable  ;  there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no, 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


43 


not  so  much  as  one.  *  *  *  For  all  have 

sinned,  and  fall  short  of  the  glory  of  God” 
(Romans  2:12,  8:10-23). 

(b)  This  means,  in  Scripture  language, 
that  sinful  man  is  lost.  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  emphasizes  this  condition  of  sinful 
man;  “The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  is  lost”  (Luke  19:10). 

While  in  the  flesh  Jesus  employed  many 
images  in  order  to  describe  the  depravity  of 
man  and  his  lost  condition;  “They  that  are 
whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are 
sick.”  He  represents  man  also  as  suffering 
under  a  moral  paralysis.  He  is  morally  im¬ 
potent  as  a  paralyzed  man  is  impotent.  He 
restored  some  men  who  were  suffering  from 
paralysis  to  such  an  extent  that  they  were 
evidently  unable  to  speak  or  to  help  them¬ 
selves;  and  in  connection  with  working  such 
miracles  He  also  taught  their  need  of  salva¬ 
tion,  and  manifested  His  power  to  forgive 
their  sin.  The  same  thing  was  illustrated  in 
the  miracle  in  which  He  raised  the  dead  to 
life.  The  apostle  Paul  in  describing  the  moral 
state  of  men  speaks  of  them  as  being  “dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins”  (Eph.  2:1,7).  Man 
is  so  dead  in  sin  that  it  is  as  necessary  for 
him  to  be  raised  to  spiritual  life  by  the  power 
of  God  as  it  is  necessary  for  the  man 
physically  dead  to  be  raised  to  life  by  the 
power  of  God. 

(c)  Out  of  this  moral  state  of  man,  “dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins,”  arises  the  doctrine  of 
inability,  which  is  that  a  man  is  unable  to 


44 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


save  himself.  He  can  no  more  begin  to  save 
himself  from  the  deadness  of  sin  than  a  man 
physically  dead  can  begin  to  save  himself 
physically. 

The  consequences  of  sin,  therefore,  are  the 
total  depravity  and  the  spiritual  inability  of 
man ;  he  is  hopeless  and  helpless  in  sin. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  was  the  original  moral  condition  of  man? 

2.  What  is  his  present  moral  condition? 

3.  What  is  the  extent  of  his  depravity? 

4.  By  what  Scriptural  terms  is  man’s  depravity 
described? 


PART  III. 


Soteriology,  or  the  Work  of  the  Saviour 


Chapter  VIII. 


The  Covenants 

Soteriology  is  concerned  with  the  way  of 
salvation  for  lost  man.  Whatever  explana¬ 
tion  may  be  given  for  his  present  depraved 
condition,  and  however  sin  may  have  entered 
into  the  world,  the  vital  question  before  us 
is,  Is  there  any  salvation  possible  for  lost 
man?  Can  he  save  himself?  Can  he  be  saved 
by  the  help  of  others?  No.  Salvation  is  of 
God.  “For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through 
faith;  and  that  not  of  yourselves;  it  is  the 
gift  of  God.”  “The  gift  of  God  is  eternal 
life,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.”  In  His 
infinite  wisdom  and  love  God  has  provided  a 
way  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,  His  only  begotten  and  well  beloved 
Son.  Soteriology  is  the  science  of  salvation 
through  this  divine  Saviour.  It  is  an  effort 
on  the  part  of  students  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
to  present  in  a  clear  scientific  and  systematic 
way  the  great  truths  of  eternal  life  for  lost 
men.  In  treating  of  this  subject  several  im¬ 
portant  matters  are  to  be  considered. 

In  the  scheme  of  redemption  we  recognize 
the  existence  of  several  covenants. 

1.  The  covenant  of  redemption,  that  is,  the 
covenant  between  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

47 


48 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


Of  course  we  know  nothing  about  this  cove¬ 
nant  except  what  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures;  but  there  are  unmistakable  ref¬ 
erences  to  the  existence  of  such  a  covenant. 

“I  will  tell  of  the  decree;  Jehovah  said  unto 
me,  Thou  art  my  Son ;  this  day  have  I  begot¬ 
ten  Thee.  Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the 
nations  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  utter¬ 
most  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession’’ 
(Psalm  2:7-8) ;  “All  that  which  the  Father 
giveth  me  shall  come  unto  me ;  and  Him  that 
cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.  *  * 
*  No  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father 
that  sent  me  draw  him ;  and  I  will  raise  him 
up  in  the  last  day.”  “For  this  cause  have  I 
said  unto  you,  that  no  man  can  come  to  me, 
except  it  be  given  unto  him  of  the  Father” 
(John  6:37,44,65).  “These  things  spake 
Jesus ;  and  lifting  up  His  eyes  to  heaven,  He 
said,  Father,  the  hour  is  come;  glorify  thy 
Son,  that  thy  Son  may  glorify  thee ;  even  as 
thou  gavest  Him  authority  over  all  flesh,  that 
to  all  whom  thou  hast  given  Him,  He  should 
give  eternal  life.  *  *  *  I  manifested  thy 

name  unto  the  men  whom  thou  gavest  me  out 
of  the  world;  thine  they  were,  and  thou 
gavest  them  to  me;  and  they  have  kept  thy 
word.”  “I  pray  for  them ;  I  pray  not  for  the 
world,  but  for  those  whom  thou  hast  given 
me;  for  they  are  thine;  and  all  things  that 
are  mine  are  thine,  and  thine  are  mine ;  and 
I  am  glorified  in  them”  (John  17:1-2,6,9- 
10).  Our  Lord  Himself  frequently  speaks 
of  an  understanding  between  Himself  and 
the  Father.  “Father,  the  hour  is  come; 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


49 


glorify  thy  Son,  that  thy  Son  may  glorify 
Thee;  As  thou  hast  given  Him  power  over 
all  flesh,  that  He  should  give  eternal  life 
to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given  Him.”  “Thine 
they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them  Me.  *  *  * 
I  pray  for  them:  I  pray  not  for  the  world, 
but  for  them  which  thou  hast  given  me ;  for 
they  are  Thine.  And  all  mine  are  thine,  and 
thine  are  mine;  and  I  am  glorified  in  them” 
(John  17 :1-10) .  The  apostle  Paul  also  seem¬ 
ed  to  have  had  such  a  covenant  in  mind  when 
he  said,  “Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us 
with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  places 
in  Christ :  according  as  He  hath  chosen  us  in 
Him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world” 
(Eph.  1:3-4). 

2.  There  is  also  the  covenant  of  works , 
between  God  and  man,  which  was  entered 
into  at  the  beginning.  When  man  was 
created  and  placed  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  an 
opportunity  was  afforded  him  to  live  in  har¬ 
mony  with  the  will  of  God.  He  was  forbid¬ 
den  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil.  God  said  to  him,  “Of  every  tree  of 
the  garden  thou  mayest  freely  eat:  But  of 
the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil, 
thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it:  for  in  the  day  that 
thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die.” 
The  covenant  of  works  was  based  upon  per¬ 
fect  obedience  of  man  to  the  command  of 
God.  Had  he  kept  this  command  of  God  he 
would  not  have  fallen  into  sin,  and  there 
would  have  been  no  need  of  a  scheme  of  re- 


50 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


demption.  The  covenant  of  works,  however, 
was  a  failure.  Man  did  not  keep  his  part 
of  it,  and  by  transgression  incurred  the 
penalty  of  disobedience,  which  is  death. 

3.  The  covenant  of  grace.  Then  came  the 
covenant  of  grace  between  God  and  man 
through  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour.  The  first 
intimation  of  the  covenant  of  grace  is  to  be 
found  in  the  promise  to  the  woman  in  the 
garden  after  the  sin  of  our  first  parents, 
that  her  seed  should  bruise  the  serpent’s 
head.  The  reference  here  seems  undoubtedly 
to  be  to  the  coming  of  the  Saviour.  From 
time  to  time  the  promise  is  enlarged  and 
made  clearer,  and  Paul  refers  to  it  in  one  of 
his  epistles,  “But  when  the  fulness  of  time 
came,  God  sent  forth  His  Son,  born  of  a 
woman,  born  under  the  law,  that  He  might 
redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law”  (Gal. 
4:4-5).  It  is  also  referred  to  in  the  promise 
to  Abraham,  that  in  him  and  in  his  seed 
should  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed. 
(Gen.  12:3;  28:14).  In  the  covenant  of 
grace  God  in  His  infinite  love  offers  salvation 
to  lost  men  through  Jesus  Christ  His  only 
begotten  Son.  Salvation  is  not  based  upon 
their  merit,  but  entirely  upon  the  merit  of 
the  Saviour.  It  is  a  free  gift  to  us,  and 
must  be  received  as  such,  and  by  faith  alone. 
“And  you  did  He  make  alive,  when  ye  were 
dead  through  your  trespasses  and  sins, 
wherein  ye  once  walked  according  to  the 
course  of  this  world,  according  to  the  prince 
of  the  powers  of  the  air,  of  the  spirit  that 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


51 


now  worketh  in  the  sons  of  disobedience; 
among  whom  we  also  all  once  lived  in  the 
lusts  of  our  flesh,  doing  the  desires  of  the 
flesh  and  of  the  mind,  and  were  by  nature 
children  of  wrath,  even  as  the  rest — but  God, 
being  rich  in  mercy  for  His  great  love  where¬ 
with  He  loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead 
through  our  trespasses,  made  us  alive  to¬ 
gether  with  Christ  (by  grace  have  ye  been 
saved) ,  and  raised  us  up  with  Him,  and  made 
us  to  sit  with  Him  in  the  heavenly  places, 
in  Christ  Jesus :  that  in  the  ages  to  come  He 
might  show  the  exceeding  riches  of  His  grace 
in  kindness  toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus:  for 
by  grace  have  ye  been  saved  through  faith ; 
and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of 
God ;  not  of  works,  that  no  man  should  glory. 
For  we  are  His  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus  for  good  works,  which  God  afore 
prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them”  (Eph. 
2:1-10).  The  grace  of  God  is  “prevenient,” 
God  comes  to  us  before  we  go  to  Him.  We 
do  not  seek  His  grace,  but  by  His  grace  He 
seeks  us.  The  grace  of  God  comes  to  all  men, 
and  is  sufficient  for  all  who  will  respond  to 
it;  but  it  is  only  efficient  to  those  who  be¬ 
lieve.  Though  God  in  His  grace  comes  to  us 
first,  and  seeks  an  entrance  into  the  heart, 
unless  we  respond  to  His  grace  we  cannot  be 
saved. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  Soteriology? 

2.  Who  is  the  Redeemer  of  lost  men? 

3.  How  many  Covenants  do  we  recognize  in  the 
scheme  of  redemption? 

4.  Define  these  Covenants. 

5.  What  is  meant  by  the  “prevenient”  grace  of  God? 


Chapter  IX. 


The  Redeemer 

The  only  Redeemer  of  God’s  elect  is  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Covenant  of  grace 
is  made  effectual  and  carried  out  through  the 
incarnation  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 

1.  The  Advent  of  Christ.  Next  to  the 
creation  of  the  world  the  advent  of  Christ 
in  human  flesh  is  the  most  important  event 
in  history.  The  Holy  Scriptures  teach  us 
that  God  assumed  human  flesh  in  Christ. 
“When  the  fulness  of  time  was  come”  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  purpose  of  God 
designed  from  all  eternity,  God,  by  His  Holy 
Spirit,  took  upon  Himself  the  form  of  man. 
The  mother  of  Christ  was  the  Virgin  Mary, 
but  His  Father  was  the  eternal  God.  He 
“was  conceived  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
born  of  her ;  yet  without  sin.”  The  time  and 
the  fact  of  the  Incarnation  of  God  in  Christ 
were  foretold  by  the  prohphets,  and  when 
His  birth  took  place  it  was  announced  by  the 
angels  of  God  from  heaven. 

2.  Jesus  Christ  was  thus  constituted  a 
unique  and  composite  Personality.  In  Him 
there  was  the  true  divine  nature  and  also 
the  true  human  nature.  These  two  distinct 

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53 


natures  were  united  in  one  Person.  There 
was  no  confusion  in  this  union,  the  divine 
nature  was  not  merged  into  the  human, 
neither  was  the  human  nature  merged  or 
lost  in  the  divine  nature.  All  the  faculties 
or  attributes  of  the  divine  nature  were  man¬ 
ifested  in  the  Person  of  Christ,  and  all  the 
faculties  or  attributes  of  the  human  nature 
were  also  manifested  in  Him.  He  was  at 
the  same  time  true  God  and  true  Man.  This 
union  of  God  and  man  in  Christ  was  not 
temporary,  but  it  is  an  eternal  union.  While 
Christ  lived  in  the  flesh  He  was  very  God 
and  very  Man;  and  when  He  was  crucified 
upon  the  cross,  dead  and  buried,  this  union 
did  not  cease;  but  when  He  arose  from  the 
dead  and  ascended  up  on  high,  where  He  ever 
sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father, 
He  continues  to  be  very  God  and  very  Man. 
The  human  nature  of  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
exalted  and  glorified  in  this  eternal  union 
with  the  Father  in  heaven. 

3.  One  thing  which  distinguished  the  Per¬ 
son  of  Christ  above  all  other  men  was  His 
freedom  from  sin.  While  in  the  flesh  He 
was  subjected  to  temptation,  but  successfully 
resisted  it.  “Who  did  no  sin,  neither  was 
guile  found  in  His  mouth”  (I  Peter  2:22). 
This  absolute  purity  and  sinlessness  of  His 
character  prepared  Him  for  the  work  which 
He  had  to  do  in  the  salvation  of  sinful  men. 


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QUESTIONS 

1.  How  is  the  covenant  of  grace  made  effectual? 

2.  What  are  we  to  understand  by  the  Advent  of 
Christ? 

3.  How,  and  through  whom  did  He  come  into  the 
World? 

4.  Describe  the  Personality  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ? 

5.  How  is  the  Person  of  Christ  distinguished  from 
other  men  as  to  His  moral  nature? 


Chapter  X. 


The  Offices  of  Christ 

For  what  purpose  did  God  become  incar¬ 
nate  in  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ?  What 
work  did  He  accomplish?  How  did  He  go 
about  saving  sinful  men?  How  did  He  bring 
the  grace  of  God  home  to  the  human  heart? 
The  Holy  Scriptures  teach  us  that  Christ  as 
our  Redeemer  executed  certain  offices,  that 
there  were  certain  things  which  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  for  Him  to  do  in  order  to  effect  the 
salvation  of  lost  men. 

1.  He  was  a  Prophet,  the  great  Prophet 
and  the  one  Person  above  all  others  who 
knew  the  mind  of  God,  who  could  speak  for 
God,  and  speak  to  men  in  words  of  unmis¬ 
takable  significance.  He  is,  indeed,  called  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures  the  Word  of  God.  The 
Word  or  the  will  of  God  was  incarnated  in 
Him.  “The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt 
among  us”  (John  1:14).  “God,  having  of 
old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the 
prophets  by  divers  portions  and  in  divers 
manners,  hath  at  the  'end  of  these  days 
spoken  unto  us  in  His  Son”  (Hebrews  1  :l-2) . 
It  was  only  Christ  who  could  say  “All  things 
are  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father:  and 
no  man  knoweth  the  Son  but  the  Father; 
neither  knoweth  any  man  the  Father  save  the 

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Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will 
reveal  Him”  (Matt.  9:27).  Christ  was  the 
great  Teacher  of  men.  “In  the  days  of  His 
flesh”  He  was  continually  striving  to  make 
God  the  Father  known  to  men;  and  this  He 
did  by  oral  teaching,  by  His  works,  and  by 
His  conduct.  All  of  Christ’s  life,  teaching 
and  works  were  in  the  nature  of  a  revelation 
of  God  to  us ;  and  we  learn  more  about  God 
in  studying  Christ  than  in  any  other  way. 
It  is  in  and  through  Him  that  the  will  of  God 
is  made  known  to  us. 

2.  Christ  also  executes  the  office  of  a 
Priest.  He  is  not  only  a  Teacher,  at  whose 
feet  we  should  sit  to  learn  the  truth  about 
God ;  but  He  is  also  a  Priest.  He  is  an  active 
Agent  in  executing  the  will  of  God.  Some¬ 
thing  more  than  teaching  was  necessary  to 
secure  our  salvation  from  sin.  The  law  of 
God  has  been  broken  by  disobedience  of  man ; 
and  the  penalty  of  the  law,  which  was  death, 
has  been  incurred.  The  sinful  man  is  a  rebel 
against  the  will  of  God,  and  is  resting  under 
the  condemnation  of  His  broken  law.  He 
has  violated  its  precept,  and  is  subject  to  its 
penalty.  The  justice  of  God  demanded  that 
the  requirements  of  the  law  should  be  met; 
it  was  necessary  that  God  should  be  just 
while  He  sought  to  justify  the  ungodly.  This 
made  the  Priesthood  of  Christ  and  His 
Priestly  office  and  work  necessary.  He  was 
therefore  not  only  “made  of  a  woman,”  but 
He  was  also  “made  under  the  law,  to  redeem 
them  that  were  under  the  law”  (Gal.  4:4-5). 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


57 


Christ  fulfilled  the  precepts  of  the  law  in 
His  perfect  life,  and  He  suffered  its  penalty 
which  He  had  not  incurred.  In  His  death 
upon  the  cross  He  took  the  place  of  sinful 
men  under  the  law,  and  thus  made  it  possible 
for  God  to  forgive  the  sins  of  men  who  were 
willing  to  accept  of  this  atoning  work  of 
Christ.  He  “who  knew  no  sin”  was  “made 
sin  for  us  *  *  *  that  we  might  be  made 

the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him.”  “Who 
His  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  His  body  on 
the  tree”  (I  Peter  2:24).  Jesus  Christ  was 
not  only  the  officiating  Priest,  but  He  was 
also  Himself  the  Sacrifice;  He  offered  Him¬ 
self.  “But  He,  because  He  abideth  for  ever, 
hath  His  priesthood  unchangeable.  Where¬ 
fore  also  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost 
them  that  draw  near  unto  God  through  Him, 
seeing  He  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession 
for  them.  For  such  an  high  priest  became 
us,  holy,  guileless,  undefiled,  separated  from 
sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens; 
who  needed  not  daily,  like  those  high  priests, 
to  offer  up  sacrifices,  first  for  his  own  sins, 
and  then  for  the  sins  of  the  people ;  for  this 
He  did  once  for  all,  when  He  offered  up  Him¬ 
self.”  “By  which  will  we  have  been  sancti¬ 
fied  through  the  offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus 
Christ  once  for  all.  *  *  *  But  He,  when 

He  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  for  ever, 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  *  *  * 

For  by  one  offering  He  hath  perfected  for¬ 
ever  them  that  are  sanctified”  ( Hebrews  7 : 
24-27;  10:10,12, 14).  He  was  “the  Lamb  of 
God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world” 


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(John  1:29).  The  priestly  work  of  Christ, 
however,  was  not  exhausted  in  the  sacrifice 
of  Himself  upon  the  cross ;  He  is  also  Inter¬ 
cessor  for  His  people.  He  began  that  work 
“in  the  days  of  His  flesh,”  praying  for  His 
disciples  and  for  those  throughout  all  history 
who  should  believe  on  Him  through  their 
word ;  and  we  are  assured  in  the  Holy  Scrip¬ 
tures  that  “He  ever  liveth  to  make  interces¬ 
sion  for  us.”  We  are  to  conceive  of  Christ, 
therefore,  our  great  High  Priest,  as  con¬ 
tinually  presenting  Himself  as  a  Sacrifice 
for  our  sins,  and  praying  to  the  Father  for 
our  redemption  and  sanctification. 

3.  Jesus  Christ  also  executes  the  office  of 
a  King.  He  not  only  teaches  us  the  will 
of  God  for  our  salvation,  and  offers  Himself 
a  Sacrifice  for  our  sins,  but  He  also  calls  for 
our  obedience  to  Him  as  the  King  of  our 
souls.  We  cannot  claim  to  be  His  disciples 
unless  we  are  willing  to  obey  His  command¬ 
ments.  He  claims  absolute  rule  over  all  those 
who  have  been  redeemed  from  their  sins  by 
His  blood.  Those  who  have  accepted  Christ 
belong  to  Him,  and  they  are  to  seek  first  the 
performance  of  His  will.  They  are  also 
under  His  protection,  and  can  rest  secure  in 
His  love.  There  is  no  force  in  the  universe 
that  can  pluck  the  disciples  of  Christ  out  of 
His  hand.  He  is  their  Defender,  and  their 
hope  against  all  possible  danger.  It  is  only 
in  Him  that  they  are  able  to  conquer  their 
enemies.  “Yet  I  have  set  my  king  upon  my 
holy  hill  of  Zion”  (Psalm  2 :6).  “For  unto  us 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


59 


a  Child  is  born,  unto  us  a  Son  is  given;  and 
the  government  shall  be  upon  His  shoulder; 
and  His  Name  shall  be  called  Wonderful, 
Counsellor,  Mighty  God,  the  everlasting 
Father,  Prince  of  Peace.  Of  the  increase  of 
His  government  and  of  peace  there  shall  be 
no  end”  (Isaiah  9 :6-7) .  “In  the  days  of  those 
Kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  king¬ 
dom  which  shall  never  be  destroyed,  nor 
shall  the  sovereignty  thereof  be  left  to  an¬ 
other  people ;  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and 
consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand 
forever.”  “And  there  was  given  Him  domin¬ 
ion  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  the 
peoples,  nations  and  languages  should  serve 
Him;  His  dominion  is  an  everlasting  domin¬ 
ion,  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  His  king¬ 
dom  that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed” 
(Daniel  2:44,  7:14).  “Where  is  He  that  is 
born  King  of  the  Jews?  For  we  saw  His  star 
in  the  east,  and  are  come  to  worship  Him” 
(Matt.  2:2).  “I  give  unto  them  eternal  life; 
and  they  shall  never  perish,  and  no  one  shall 
snatch  them  out  of  my  hand.  My  Father,  who 
hath  given  them  unto  Me,  is  greater  than 
all ;  and  no  one  is  able  to  snatch  them  out  of 
the  Father’s  hand”  (John  10:28-29).  “Nay 
in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  con¬ 
querors  through  Him  that  loved  us”  (Romans 
8:27).  “Wherefore  let  no  one  glory  in  men, 
For  all  things  are  yours;  whether  Paul  or 
Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or 
death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come; 
all  are  yours,  and  ye  are  Christ’s ;  and  Christ 
is  God’s.”  “Know  ye  not  that  your  bodies 


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are  members  of  Christ?  *  *  *  He  that  is 
joined  unto  the  Lord  is  one  spirit.  Flee  for¬ 
nication.  Every  sin  that  a  man  doeth  is 
without  the  body;  but  he  that  committeth 
fornication  sinneth  against  his  own  body. 
Or  know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  a  temple 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is  in  you,  which  ye 
have  from  God?  and  ye  are  not  your  own; 
for  ye  were  bought  with  a  price ;  glorify  God 
therefore  in  your  body”  (I  Cor.  3:21-2,  23; 
6:15-20). 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  offices  has  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  our 
Redeemer? 

2.  How  does  He  execute  the  office  of  Prophet? 

3.  How  does  He  execute  the  office  of  Priest? 

4.  How  does  He  execute  the  office  of  King? 


Chapter  XI. 


The  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 

There  are  three  Persons  in  the  Godhead, 
the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  We 
have  already  considered  the  work  of  the 
Father  in  redemption,  and  the  work  of  the 
Son  in  redemption ;  it  is  now  in  order  for  us 
to  consider  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
redemption.  It  must  be  remembered,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  three  Persons  of  the  Godhead 
do  not  work  independently  of  each  other  in 
the  redemption  of  the  lost  sinner.  We  only 
consider  them  independently  of  each  other 
in  order  to  preserve  clearness  in  thinking. 
The  three  Persons  in  the  Godhead  constitute 
one  God,  and  they  operate  continually  to¬ 
gether  as  one.  Their  unity  in  purpose  and 
operation  is  perfect.  Certain  aspects  of  the 
work  of  redemption,  however,  are  assigned 
in  the  Scriptures  to  the  Holy  Spirit. 

1.  Regeneration ,  or  the  new  birth.  So 
radical  and  complete  is  the  change  wrought 
in  the  nature  of  a  sinful  man  when  he  be¬ 
comes  a  true  Christian  that  this  change  is 
called  in  the  Scriptures  regeneration,  or  the 
new  birth.  It  is  by  the  Holy  Spirit  that  God 
begins  the  work  of  regeneration  in  the  sin¬ 
ful  heart  of  man.  The  grace  of  God  operates 
through  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  would  be  no 

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significance  in  calling  this  change  a  new 
birth  if  it  were  due  to  the  exertions  of  the 
man  himself.  Of  course  when  our  Lord 
speaks  of  the  necessity  of  a  saved  man  being 
born  again,  or  born  from  above,  He  is  em¬ 
ploying  figurative  language.  But  the  truth 
illustrated  in  this  figurative  language  is  just 
as  primitive  and  essential  as  if  the  language 
were  applied  to  the  first  birth.  A  man  is  not 
an  active  agent  in  coming  into  this  world 
when  he  is  born  of  his  mother;  no  more 
is  he  an  active  agent  when  coming  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  when  born  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Regeneration  is  essentially  and  truly 
a  new  birth.  As  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Him¬ 
self  was  begotten  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  “the 
first  born  among  many  brethren,”  so  all  of 
His  true  disciples  are  also  begotten  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  “for  which  cause  He  is  not 
ashamed  to  call  them  brethren.” 

The  work  of  Christ  in  redemption  in  the 
man  concerns  the  relation  of  the  sinful  man 
to  the  broken  law  of  God.  His  death  upon 
the  cross  was  necessary  to  make  it  possible 
that  the  guilt  of  sin  could  be  removed.  There, 
however,  remains  in  the  sinful  man  the 
dominion  and  pollution  of  sin ;  it  is  necessary 
that  he  himself  should  be  radically  changed 
in  his  atitude  toward  God  and  His  law.  It 
is  specifically  the  work  of  the  Spirit  to  pro¬ 
duce  this  change,  and  turn  the  whole  direc¬ 
tion  of  man’s  life  away  from  sin  to  God  and 
spiritual  things.  The  work  of  the  Spirit  in 
regeneration,  therefore,  is  the  beginning  of 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


63 


the  sanctification  of  the  sinful  man’s  heart 
and  life.  We  must  not,  therefore,  for  a 
moment  imagine  that  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
is  confined  to  regeneration,  or  the  beginning 
of  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul.  When  a  man 
has  received  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  and 
has  become  born  again,  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
continues  in  Him  until  He  is  made  perfect 
and  entirely  like  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  appears  in  the  virtues  of 
his  Christian  life. 

2.  Another  work  of  the  Spirit  in  man, 
which  should  be  emphasized,  is  intercession. 
Like  the  Son  of  God,  the  Spirit  also  exercises 
the  priestly  function.  Dwelling  within  the 
heart  of  the  believer  He  makes  intercession 
for  him  to  the  Father  “with  groanings  which 
cannot  be  uttered”  (Romans  8:26-27).  “And 
I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit 
of  grace  and  of  supplication”  (Zechariah  12: 
10) .  “In  like  manner  the  Spirit  also  helpeth 
our  infirmity :  for  we  know  not  how  to  pray 
as  we  ought;  but  the  Spirit  Himself  maketh 
intercession  for  us  with  groanings  which 
cannot  be  uttered;  and  He  that  searcheth 
the  hearts  knoweth  what  is  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit,  because  He  maketh  intercession  for 
the  saints  according  to  the  will  of  God” 
(Romans  8:26-27).  “With  all  prayer  and 
supplication  praying  at  all  seasons  in  the 
Spirit”  (Eph.  6:18). 


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QUESTIONS 

1.  Are  all  three  Persons  of  the  Godhead  active  in  the 
work  of  redemption? 

2.  What  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  regeneration? 

3.  What  in  sanctification? 

4.  What  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  intercession? 


Chapter  XII. 


The  Graces  of  the  Spirit 

How  are  the  presence  and  activity  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  human  heart  manifested? 
There  are  certain  things  which  appear  in  the 
Christian  that  are  due  to  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  Spirit.  These  are  repentance, 
faith,  love  and  obedience.  We  must  divest 
our  minds  of  any  thought  that  these  are 
native  activities  of  the  soul  and  due  to  the 
efforts  of  the  man  himself.  They  are  called 
graces  of  the  Spirit  because  they  are  the  re¬ 
sults  of  the  Spirit's  activities  and  regenerat¬ 
ing  power. 

1.  Repentance.  Repentance  in  its  simplest 
definition  means  a  change  of  mind.  This 
change  of  mind  also  produces  a  change  of  at¬ 
titude  toward  God.  It  involves  some  realiza¬ 
tion  of  the  sinfulness  of  sin,  the  hatred  of 
God  for  it,  and  its  destructive  power  in 
human  life.  No  man  comes  to  repentance  of 
himself ;  God  calls  him  to  repentance.  Re¬ 
pentance  itself  is  a  gift  of  God,  it  is  one  of 
the  effects  of  the  Spirit’s  power  in  the  soul. 
The  Scriptures  make  it  plain  that  the  divine 
activity  in  the  human  heart  produces  repent¬ 
ance.  Peter,  standing  before  the  Jewish 
council  and  speaking  of  Christ,  said,  “Him 
hath  God  exalted  with  His  right  hand  to  be 

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a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  for  to  give  repent¬ 
ance  to  Israel,  and  forgiveness  of  sins”  (Acts 
5:31).  Paul  also,  in  writing  to  Timothy, 
urges  him,  as  servant  of  the  Lord,  to  “be 
gentle  unto  all  men,  apt  to  teach,  patient, 
in  meekness  instructing  those  that  oppose 
themselves;  if  God  peradventure  will  give 
them  repentance  to  the  acknowledging  of  the 
truth”  (II  Tim.  24-25).  Men  are  called  to 
repentance  by  the  preacher;  and  Paul  even 
says,  in  his  address  on  Mar’s  Hill  that  “God 
commandeth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent.” 
We  must  understand,  therefore,  that  repent¬ 
ance  is  a  practical  matter  with  men.  The 
Spirit  of  God  is  abroad  in  the  world,  He  has 
come  to  convince  the  world  of  sin,  of  righte¬ 
ousness  and  judgment  to  come;  and  He  ac¬ 
companies  the  preaching  of  the  Word  so  that 
men  who  hear  the  Word  of  God  and  the 
offers  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ  can 
come  to  repentance.  It  was  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  after  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  Peter  said  to  the  multitude  who 
heard  his  preaching  and  were  convicted  of 
their  sin  in  rejecting  Christ  as  their  Saviour, 
“Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remis¬ 
sion  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost”  (Acts  2:38). 

2.  Faith.  Another  grace  of  the  Spirit  is 
Faith.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  determine 
the  order  of  priority  of  repentance  and  faith 
in  the  Christian  experience.  A  man  cannot 
repent  of  his  sins  toward  God,  and  that  is 


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67 


the  true  repentance,  unless  he  has  some  faith 
in  God;  nor  can  he  exercise  true  faith  in 
God  without  at  the  same  time  repenting  of 
his  sin  in  rebellion  against  God  in  violating 
the  divine  law.  The  two  graces  of  faith  and 
repentance  are  necessarily  involved  in  each 
other,  neither  one  exists  without  the  other. 
Faith  just  as  repentance,  is  due  to  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  the  Spirit  in  the  soul.  The  presence 
of  the  Spirit  lifts  the  mind  and  heart  of  man 
to  God.  There  is  nothing  in  the  soul  of  man 
itself  that  would  enable  him  to  find  God. 
Men  often  become  unhappy  in  the  impenitent 
unbelieving  life;  but  we  have  reason  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  this  unhappiness  is  due  to  the 
gracious  presence  and  action  of  God’s  Spirit 
in  their  souls.  “By  grace  are  ye  saved 
through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it 
is  the  gift  of  God”  (Eph.  2 :8) . 

3.  Another  grace  of  the  Spirit  is  Love . 
“The  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  given  unto  us” 
(Romans  5:5,  II  Cor.  1:12,  Gal.  4:6).  When 
a  man  discovers  through  faith  and  repent¬ 
ance  that  God  in  His  infinite  love  has  pro¬ 
vided  for  his  redemption  in  Christ,  that  dis¬ 
covery  begets  love  in  his  own  heart.  “We 
love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us”  (I  John 
4:19).  “Love  is  of  God  *  *  *  for  God  is 
love”  (I  John  4:7-8).  As  God  loves  His 
children,  so  the  children  of  God  must  love 
Him.  This  is  what  the  apostle  means  by 
saying  that  “the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad 
in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  “which  is 
given  unto  us”  (Romans  5:5). 


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4.  The  fourth  grace  is  Obedience  to  the 
commands  of  God.  Our  Lord  says,  ‘‘If  ye 
love  me  keep  my  commandments.  “Faith  * 
*  *  worketh  by  love  and  purifieth  the 

heart.”  “Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.” 
The  lover  of  God  loves  the  law  of  God.  He 
does  not  regard  it  as  slavery  to  obey  the  law 
of  God.  But,  when  he  has  found  the  true 
liberty  in  Christ,  like  the  psalmist  he  says, 
“Oh  how  love  I  Thy  law!  It  is  my  meditation 
all  the  day.”  The  Bible  in  teaching  us  that 
“by  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified,”  does 
not  mean  to  teach  us  that  we  are  exempt 
from  obedience  to  the  law.  It  is  just  as  in¬ 
cumbent  upon  the  Christian  to  obey  the  law 
of  God  as  it  is  upon  the  unbeliever.  If  the 
unbeliever  rests  under  obligation  of  obe¬ 
dience  to  the  law,  how  much  more  does  this 
obligation  bind  the  heart  of  the  Christian! 
All  of  the  commandments  of  God  are  ful¬ 
filled  in  love.  “Jesus  said  *  *  *  Thou 

shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great  command¬ 
ment.  And  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself”  (Matthew 
22:37-40). 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  do  we  mean  by  the  graces  of  the  Holy 
Spirit? 

2.  Give  a  full  definition  of  repentance? 

3.  What  is  the  work  of  faith  in  redemption? 

4.  Why  is  love  mentioned  as  a  grace  of  the  Spirit? 

5.  Why  is  obedience  a  grace  of  the  Spirit? 

6.  What  should  be  the  attitude  of  the  Christian  to 
the  law  of  God? 


Chapter  XIII. 


Benefits  Received  by  the  Believer 

The  work  of  the  Spirit  in  applying  to  lost 
men  the  redemption  purchased  by  Christ  ap¬ 
pears  in  Justification,  Adoption  and  Sancti¬ 
fication.  These  may  be  spoken  of  as  three 
stages  in  the  salvation  of  man. 

1.  It  is  in  Justification  that  those  who  are 
penitent  for  their  sins,  and  who  are  willing 
to  receive  Christ  by  faith,  are  delivered  from 
the  guilt  of  their  sins ;  they  are  justified  from 
the  deeds  of  the  law.  When  a  man  has 
violated  the  law  and  has  been  judged  guilty 
he  cannot  be  set  free  unless  in  some  way  he 
is  justified.  His  justification  is  therefore  an 
act  of  pardon.  God  the  Father  exercises  His 
grace  toward  the  offender  by  forgiving  his 
sins  for  Christ’s  sake.  The  penalty  of  the 
law  no  longer  has  any  force  against  him. 
Nor  is  this  the  whole  of  justification.  The 
sinful  man  is  also  accepted  as  righteous  in 
the  sight  of  God.  He  is  restored  to  his  place 
in  the  Father’s  favor,  as  the  prodigal  son  was 
restored  to  his  father’s  house,  and  was  ac¬ 
cepted,  not  as  one  of  the  servants,  but  as  his 
long  lost  son.  The  sinner  in  justification  re¬ 
ceives  the  benefit  of  Christ’s  righteousness, 
which,  as  the  catechism  has  it,  is  “imputed  to 
us,  and  received  by  faith  alone.”  Justification 

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is  an  act  of  God’s  grace,  a  declarative  act. 
Not  something  the  sinner  does  for  himself, 
but  something  God  does  for  him  for  Christ’s 
sake. 

2.  The  next  benefit  received  by  the  believer 
in  the  redemption  of  Christ  is  Adoption.  The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  begotten  Son 
of  God;  and  those  who  become  His  brethren 
by  faith  must  be  adopted  into  the  family  of 
God.  We  are  not  naturally  the  spiritual 
children  of  God.  We  must  not  imagine  that 
in  talking  about  the  Fatherhood  of  God  that 
we  can  regard  ourselves,  unless  we  are  re¬ 
generated  by  God’s  Spirit,  as  His  children 
in  the  high  spiritual  sense  of  the  word.  Men 
by  sin  lose  their  place  as  the  children  of 
God;  and  when  they  are  saved,  that  is  just¬ 
ified  by  God’s  grace  through  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  they  must  receive  the  spirit  of  adop¬ 
tion,  they  must  be  adopted  into  the  household 
of  God,  and  thus  become  the  spiritual  chil¬ 
dren  of  God  and  the  spiritual  brethren  of 
Christ.  This  is  the  highest  and  the  truest 
relation  that  we  can  possibly  occupy  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  We  are  known  and  treated 
as  children  of  the  Father,  and  have  a  right 
to  all  the  privileges  of  children.  Adoption, 
like  justification,  is  an  act  of  God’s  grace, 
and  does  not  arise  from  anything  that  a 
sinful  man  can  do  for  himself.  It  is  one  of 
the  benefits  of  the  redemption  purchased  by 
Christ  which  he  as  a  believer  enjoys. 

3.  Sanctification.  Still  another  benefit  of 
the  redemption  purchased  by  Christ  which 


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71 


the  believer  enjoys  is  Sanctification.  We  are 
not  only,  in  our  natural  state,  guilty  of  viola¬ 
tion  of  the  law  of  God;  but  we  also  suffer 
from  the  pollution  and  power  of  sin  in  our 
members.  The  work  of  the  Spirit  first  man¬ 
ifests  itself  in  regeneration,  which  involves 
a  change  of  heart  and  of  life.  Sin  becomes 
hateful  to  the  regenerate  heart,  and  the  work 
of  purification  begins  in  the  new  birth;  but 
is  continued  in  Sanctification.  Sanctification, 
unlike  Justification  and  Adoption,  is  a  process, 
it  continues  all  through  one’s  earthly  life.  We 
have  no  promise  that  we  shall  be  entirely 
sanctified  while  we  remain  in  the  flesh,  but 
we  must  be  entirely  sanctified  and  made  like 
unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  before  we  can 
be  received  into  the  presence  of  the  Father. 
No  soul  laboring  under  either  the  guilt  or 
the  power  of  sin  can  present  himself  before 
God.  “Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for 
they  shall  see  God.”  The  work  of  Sanctifi¬ 
cation  is  gradual,  and  often  difficult  and 
tortuous.  In  some  it  makes  more  rapid  pro¬ 
gress  than  in  others ;  but  in  every  true  Chris¬ 
tian  there  should  be  evidence  of  advance  in 
the  divine  life.  Sin  should  become  more  and 
more  hateful  to  us,  and  righteousness  more 
attractive.  We  ought  to  grow  both  in  grace 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  are  the  benefits  received  by  believers  in 
redemption  ? 

2.  Give  a  full  definition  of  Justification. 

3.  Of  Adoption. 

4.  Of  Sanctification. 


Chapter  XIV. 


The  Means  of  Grace 

In  order  to  help  us  in  sanctification  God 
has  provided  us  with  means  of  grace.  These 
means  of  grace  are  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  bring  us  into  closer  relationship  with  God. 
It  is  by  the  use  of  the  means  of  grace  that 
our  sanctification  is  hastened.  We  cannot 
hope  to  be  developed  spiritually  unless  we 
take  advantage  of  these  means  of  grace  with 
which  God  has  provided  us.  They  are  speci¬ 
fied  as  “the  word,  sacraments  and  prayer.” 

1.  The  Word  of  God  in  our  hands  is  a 
revelation  of  His  will.  Unless  we  know 
through  the  study  of  the  Word  what  the  will 
of  God  is,  we  cannot  hope  to  perform  it.  It 
is  through  the  knowledge  of  His  will  that  we 
come  to  know  the  hatefulness  and  destructive 
power  of  sin,  and  desire  more  and  more  to 
be  rid  of  it,  and  to  become  like  the  Master, 
the  delight  of  whose  life  was  to  do  the  will 
of  His  Father.  There  is  nothing  so  helpful 
to  the  Christian  in  the  development  of  his 
sanctification  as  the  intelligent  and  persistent 
use  of  the  word  of  God.  He  ought  to  study 
it  continually,  and  with  every  help  within 
his  reach.  It  is  in  this  way  that  he  comes 
to  know  God,  and  to  understand  what  God 
requires  of  him.  The  Christian  who  neglects 

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73 


the  study  of  God’s  word  cannot  hope  to  make 
much  advance  in  the  divine  life.  His  sancti¬ 
fication  will  be  slow,  and  he  must  labor  under 
much  discouragement.  The  prayer  of  our 
Lord  for  His  own  disciples  was,  “sanctify 
them  through  thy  truth,  thy  word  is  truth.” 
As  the  truth  sinks  down  deep  into  the  heart 
it  turns  more  and  more  to  God,  and  the  life 
conforms  itself  to  the  will  of  God. 

2.  The  Sacraments  also,  namely  Baptism 
and  the  Lord’s  Supper,  are  given  to  us  as 
means  of  grace.  Without  entering  at  this 
point  into  discussion  of  the  significance  of 
the  sacraments,  which  must  be  deferred  until 
we  come  to  consider  the  Church,  it  should 
be  said  that  the  diligent  use  of  the  sacra¬ 
ments  are  beneficial  in  the  promotion  of 
sanctification.  They  are  intended  by  God  to 
be  used  in  this  way,  and  we  should  regard 
them  as  gifts  of  His  grace  and  love.  No  true 
believer  in  Christ  has  a  right  to  ignore 
baptism  and  the  observance  of  the  Lord’s 
Supper  in  the  conviction  that  they  are  use¬ 
less,  and  that  he  can  be  as  loyal  to  the  will 
of  the  Master  in  the  neglect  of  them  as  in 
their  observance.  They  would  not  have  been 
appointed  to  us  by  the  Master  Himself  unless 
He  had  designed  them  for  our  good,  and 
unless  He  had  known  that  the  use  of  them 
would  be  beneficial  in  the  promotion  of  a 
holy  life. 

3.  Prayer  is  also  a  means  of  grace.  It  is 
one  of  the  greatest  privileges  of  the  child  of 
God,  just  as  the  observance  of  the  sacraments 


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is  one  of  his  privileges.  The  Spirit  of  re¬ 
generation  and  sanctification,  that  is  to  say, 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  is  a  Spirit  of  prayer 
and  supplication.  No  man  can  really  have 
in  his  heart  the  Spirit  of  God  and  not  be 
inclined  to  go  to  God  in  prayer.  He  may  not 
always  yield  to  the  power  of  the  Spirit  as  he 
should  do;  but  a  man  could  not  be  called  a 
Christian  who  never  exercises  the  privilege 
of  praying  to  the  Father.  A  normal  child 
certainly  wishes  to  talk  to  his  father.  It  is 
by  prayer  that  the  soul  is  brought  into  fel¬ 
lowship  with  God,  and  in  the  exercise  of  this 
privilege  we  are  strengthened  against  temp¬ 
tation  and  supported  in  the  hour  of  weak¬ 
ness;  and  are  enabled  to  walk  worthy  of 
Christ  who  has  called  us  to  His  kingdom  and 
glory. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  How  are  the  means  of  grace  used  in  our  sanctifi¬ 
cation?  » 

2.  What  are  the  means  of  grace? 

3.  What  is  the  use  of  the  Word  of  God  as  a  means 
of  grace? 

4.  Name  the  Sacraments;  and  tell  how  they  are  to 
be  used  as  a  means  of  grace. 

5.  What  is  prayer?  and  how  is  it  to  be  used  as  a 
means  of  grace? 


PART  IV. 


Ecclesiology,  or  the  Study  of  the  Church 


Chapter  XV. 


The  Origin  of  the  Church 

1.  The  Church  had  its  origin  in  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  in  the  promise  that  the  seed  of  the 
woman  should  bruise  the  serpent’s  head.  It 
was  necessitated  by  the  fall  of  man.  It  was 
impossible  that  man  himself  should  have 
originated  the  Church.  God  was  the  Author 
of  it,  and  it  sprang  from  His  love  for  man, 
notwithstanding  the  latter’s  sin,  and  His 
desire  to  restore  fallen  man  to  his  original 
position.  In  the  era  prior  to  the  flood  ap¬ 
parently  there  was  no  outward  organization 
of  the  Church.  Men  recognized  and  wor¬ 
shipped  God,  and  through  burnt  offerings 
and  sacrifices  sought  forgiveness  of  their 
sins  and  acceptance  with  God.  The  difference 
in  their  offerings  is  illustrated  in  the  ex¬ 
periences  of  Cain  and  Abel,  “The  Lord  had 
respect  unto  Abel,  and  unto  his  offering ;  but 
unto  Cain  and  his  offering  He  had  not  re¬ 
spect”  (Gen.  4:4-5).  By  faith  Abel  offered 
a  lamb  of  his  flock,  which  was  typical  of  the 
“Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world.”  He  recognized  the  fact  that  the 
penalty  of  sin  was  death,  and  that  sacrifice 
of  life  was  necessary  in  order  to  his  recon¬ 
ciliation  with  God. 

2.  In  the  days  of  Abraham,  the  father  of 
the  faithful,  the  Church  first  assumed  a  patri- 

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archal  form.  Abraham  was  the  head  of  it, 
and  the  priest  of  God  in  his  family.  With 
him  God  entered  into  covenant  relationship, 
and  to  him  was  given  the  promise,  “In  thee 
shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed” 
(Gen.  19:3).  As  the  descendants  of  Abra¬ 
ham  increased  the  elders  of  Israel  became  the 
rulers  of  the  Church,  and  the  religious  in¬ 
terests  of  the  people  were  committed  to  their 
hands.  “Go  and  gather  the  elders  of  Israel 
together,  and  say  unto  them,  Jehovah,  the 
God  of  your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham, 
of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  hath  appeared  unto 
me,  etc.”  “And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  and 
gathered  together  all  the  elders  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel”;  “And  Aaron  came,  and  all 
the  elders  of  Israel,  to  eat  bread  with  Moses’ 
father-in-law  before  God”  (Exodus  3:16,  4: 
29,  18:12).  In  the  time  of  Moses  at  the 
giving  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai  the  organ¬ 
ization  of  the  Church  was  made  more  com¬ 
plete.  The  tribe  of  Levi  was  appointed  the 
priestly  tribe;  and  Aaron,  the  brother  of 
Moses,  was  made  the  High  Priest,  this  office 
to  remain  in  his  family,  and  to  descend  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  tabernacle 
was  erected  as  a  house  of  worship,  and  the 
care  of  it  and  of  all  religious  matters  was 
committed  to  the  Levites.  In  this  form  the 
Church,  without  essential  modification,  con¬ 
tinued  until  the  advent  of  Christ.  After  the 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  under 
Saul,  and  especially  later  under  David  and 
Solomon,  the  Church  began  to  take  on  the 
form  of  a  kingdom,  and  was  frequently 


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spoken  of  as  such  in  the  Psalms  and  by  the 
prophets.  “Yet  I  have  set  my  King  upon 
my  holy  hill  of  Zion”;  “Thy  throne,  0  God 
is  for  ever  and  ever:  a  sceptre  of  equity  is 
the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom” ;  “Give  the  King 
thy  judgments,  0  God,  and  thy  righteousness 
unto  the  King’s  son.  *  *  *  He  shall  have 
dominion  also  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the 
River  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth”  (Psalm 
2:6,  45:6,  72:1,  8).  “For  unto  us  a  child  is 
born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given ;  and  the  govern¬ 
ment  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder:  and  his 
name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor, 
Mighty  God,  Everlasting  Father,  Prince  of 
Peace.  Of  the  increase  of  His  government 
and  of  peace  there  shall  be  no  end,  upon  the 
throne  of  David,  and  upon  his  kingdom,  to 
establish  it,  and  to  uphold  it  with  justice 
and  with  righteousness  from  henceforth, 
even  for  ever”  (Isaiah  9:6-7). 

“His  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom, 
and  his  dominion  is  from  generation  to  gen¬ 
eration.”  “I  blessed  the  Most  High,  and  I 
praised  and  honoured  him  that  liveth  for 
ever ;  for  His  dominion  is  an  everlasting 
dominion,  and  his  kingdom  from  generation 
to  generation”  (Daniel  4:3,  34). 

3.  Under  the  New  Testament  Dispensa¬ 
tion,  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  the  Church  was 
reorganized.  Our  Lord  spoke  of  it  as  “the 
kingdom  of  God”  and  “the  kingdom  of 
heaven” ;  and  He  taught  His  disciples  in  the 
Lord’s  Prayer  to  say,  “Thy  kingdom  come.” 
He  had  a  number  of  disciples,  twelve  of 


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Hand  Book  of  Theology 


whom  He  ordained  as  apostles  and  it  was 
into  their  hands,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  that  He  committed  the  organ¬ 
ization  of  the  Church.  The  Holy  Spirit,  in 
fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  God  unto  the 
fathers,  and  especially  recorded  in  the  second 
chapter  of  Joel,  came  down  upon  the  early 
Church  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  “And  when 
the  day  of  Pentecost  was  now  come,  they 
were  all  together  in  one  place.  And  suddenly 
there  came  from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  the 
rushing  of  a  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all  the 
house  where  they  were  sitting.  And  there 
appeared  unto  them  tongues  parting  asunder, 
like  as  of  fire;  and  it  sat  upon  each  one  of 
them.  And  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  began  to  speak  with  other 
tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance” 
(Acts  2:1-4). 

After  that  the  organization  of  the  disciples, 
who  were  called  believers  and  saints,  was 
effected  by  the  election  and  ordination  of 
elders  and  deacons  in  every  church.  “Now 
in  these  days,  when  the  number  of  the  dis¬ 
ciples  was  multiplying,  there  arose  a  mur¬ 
muring  of  the  Grecian  Jews  against  the 
Hebrews,  because  their  widows  were  neglect¬ 
ed  in  the  daily  ministration.  And  the  twelve 
called  the  multitude  of  the  disciples  unto 
them,  and  said,  it  is  not  fit  that  we  should 
forsake  the  word  of  God,  and  serve  tables. 
Look  ye  out  therefore,  brethren,  from  among 
you,  seven  men  of  good  report,  full  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  wisdom,  whom  we  may  appoint 


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over  this  business.  But  we  will  continue 
steadfastly  in  prayer,  and  in  the  ministry  of 
the  word.  And  the  saying  pleased  the  whole 
multitude:  and  they  chose  Stephen,  a  man 
full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
Philip,  and  Prochorus,  and  Nicanor,  and 
Timon,  and  Parmenas,  and  Nicolaus,  a  pro¬ 
selyte  of  Antioch ;  whom  they  set  before  the 
apostles :  and  when  they  had  prayed  they  laid 
their  hands  upon  them”  (Acts  6:1-6). 

“And  when  they  had  appointed  for  them 
elders  in  every  church,  and  had  prayed 
with  fasting,  they  commended  them  to  the 
Lord,  on  whom  they  had  believed.”  “And 
the  apostles  and  the  elders  were  gathered 
together  to  consider  of  this  matter.”  “And 
as  they  went  on  their  way  through  the  cities, 
they  delivered  them  the  decrees  to  keep  which 
had  been  ordained  of  the  apostles  and  elders 
that  were  at  Jerusalem”  (Acts  14:23,  15:6, 
16:4).  “Paul  and  Timothy,  servants  of 
Christ  Jesus,  to  all  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus 
that  are  at  Philippi,  with  the  bishops  and 
deacons”  (Philippians  1:1).  “Faithful  is 
the  saying,  If  a  man  seeketh  the  office  of  a 
bishop,  he  desireth  a  good  work.  The  bishop 
therefore  must  be  without  reproach,  the  hus¬ 
band  of  one  wife,  temperate,  sober-minded, 
orderly,  given  to  hospitality,  apt  to  teach; 
no  brawler,  no  striker;  but  gentle,  not  con¬ 
tentious,  no  lover  of  money;  one  that  ruleth 
well  his  own  house,  having  his  children  in 
subjection  with  all  gravity;  (but  if  a  man 
knoweth  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how 


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shall  he  take  care  of  the  church  of  God?) 
not  a  novice,  lest  being  puffed  up  he  fall  into 
the  condemnation  of  the  devil.  Moreover  he 
must  have  good  testimony  from  them  that 
are  without;  lest  he  fall  into  reproach  and 
the  snare  of  the  devil. 

Deacons  in  like  manner  must  be  grave, 
not  double  tongued,  not  given  to  much  wine, 
not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre ;  holding  the  mys¬ 
tery  of  the  faith  in  a  pure  conscience.  And 
let  these  also  first  be  proved;  then  let  them 
serve  as  deacons,  if  they  be  blameless.  *  * 

*  Let  deacons  be  husbands  of  one  wife, 
ruling  their  children  and  their  own  houses 
well.  For  they  that  have  served  well  as 
deacons  gain  to  themselves  a  good  standing, 
and  great  boldness  in  the  faith  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus”  (I  Tim.  3:1-13).  “For  this 
cause  I  left  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldest 
set  in  order  the  things  that  were  wanting, 
and  appoint  elders  in  every  city,  as  I  gave 
thee  charge;  if  any  man  is  blameless,  the 
husband  of  one  wife,  having  children  that 
believe,  who  are  not  accused  of  riot  or  un¬ 
ruly.  For  the  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as 
God’s  steward ;  not  self-willed,  not  soon 
angry,  no  brawler,  no  striker,  not  greedy  of 
filthy  lucre;  but  given  to  hospitality,  a  lover 
of  good,  sober-minded,  just,  holy,  self-con- 
trolled;  holding  to  the  faithful  word  which 
is  according  to  the  teaching,  that  he  may  be 
able  both  to  exhort  in  the  sound  doctrine,  and 
to  convict  the  gainsayers”  (Titus  1:5-9).  In 
the  later  history  of  the  Church  under  the  Old 


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83 


Dispensation  synagogue  worship  sprang  up 
throughout  Palestine.  As  the  people  mul¬ 
tiplied  in  numbers  it  became  necessary  for 
their  instruction  that  certain  houses  of  wor¬ 
ship  should  be  erected  in  various  parts  of 
the  country  where  they  might  meet  and, 
under  instruction  of  the  elders,  be  taught  the 
Law  of  God  as  it  was  contained  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  In  each  synagogue  there  was  a 
bench  of  elders.  In  the  early  New  Testa¬ 
ment  Church  many  Jewish  synagogues  were 
taken  over  by  the  Church,  and  the  bench  of 
elders  was  elected  and  ordained  to  have 
charge  of  the  worship  and  interest  of  the 
membership  of  the  Church.  It  is  perfectly 
manifest  in  the  study  of  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  that  the  early  Church  was  a 
simple  organization,  and  the  only  officers 
mentioned  are  elders,  which  are  sometimes 
called  bishops,  and  deacons. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  was  the  origin  of  the  Church? 

2.  Describe  the  first  form  of  the  Church’s  organ¬ 
ization. 

3.  What  change  took  place  in  the  organization  under 
the  New  Testament  Dispensation? 

4.  What  are  the  two  classes  of  officers  in  the  Church? 


Chapter  XVI. 


The  Nature  of  the  Church 

The  Church  is  spiritual  in  its  nature. 
Christ  Himself  is  the  head  of  it ;  and  we  are 
taught  in  the  Scriptures  that  He  “loved  the 
Church,  and  gave  Himself  for  it.”  A  distinc¬ 
tion  should  be  kept  in  mind  between  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God,  or  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
the  outward  organization  of  the  church.  The 
kingdom  of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
are  the  same.  The  first  expression  describes 
the  kingdom  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
King  or  Head  of  it  Himself,  and  the  second 
from  the  point  of  view  of  its  location.  It 
is  the  kingdom  of  God  as  distinguished  from 
the  kingdom  of  man,  and  it  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  as  distinguished  from  the  kingdom 
of  earth.  The  kingdom  of  God,  or  of  heaven, 
is  the  power,  grace  and  love  of  God  in  the 
soul  of  man;  it  describes  the  presence  and 
operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  universe. 
The  outward  manifestation  of  the  kingdom  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Church  on  earth.  It  man¬ 
ifests  itself  first  in  the  life  of  the  individual, 
“the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.”  But 
when  individual  Christians,  in  whose  hearts 
the  kingdom  of  God  has  been  established, 
come  together  into  an  external  organization 

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85 


it  is  called  the  Church.  This  is  the  visible 
Church  on  earth,  often  spoken  of  in  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures  as  the  Body  of  Christ, 
sometimes  also  as  the  Bride  of  Christ. 

“And  from  Miletus  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  and 
called  to  him  the  elders  of  the  church.  And 
when  they  were  come  to  him,  he  said  unto 
them.  *  *  *  Take  heed  unto  yourselves, 

and  to  all  the  flock,  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
hath  made  you  bishops  (overseers),  to  feed 
the  church  of  the  Lord  which  He  purchased 
with  His  own  blood”  (Acts  20:17,  18  and 
28).  “Faithful  is  the  saying,  If  a  man 
seeketh  the  office  of  a  bishop,  he  desireth  a 
good  work.”  “Rebuke  not  an  elder,  but  exhort 
him  as  a  father”  (I  Timothy  3:1,  5:1). 

The  Church  consists  of  those  who  are 
called  out  from  the  world  and  become  be¬ 
lievers  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  meaning 
of  the  Greek  word  “Ekklesia”  for  Church 
(Ek  —  out  of,  Klesia  —  called) .  They  are 
known  in  the  Scriptures  as  believers,  saints, 
brethren.  No  better  difinition  of  the  visible 
Church  can  be  found  than  that  in  the  Con¬ 
fession  of  Faith,  which  says,  “The  visible 
Church,  which  is  also  Catholic  or  universal 
under  the  gospel,  consists  of  all  those  through¬ 
out  the  world  that  profess  the  true  religion, 
together  with  their  children.”  “The  promise 
is  to  you  and  to  your  children.”  The  chil¬ 
dren  of  believers  are  born  in  the  church,  and 
not  out  of  it ;  and  our  Master  has  said,  “Suf¬ 
fer  the  little  children,  and  forbid  them  not, 
to  come  unto  Me,  for  to  such  belongeth  the 


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kingdom  of  heaven.”  Under  the  old  dispen¬ 
sation  the  children  were  regarded  as  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  church ;  and  the  same  is  true  un¬ 
der  the  new  dispensation.  Frequently  in  the 
New  Testament  we  read  of  whole  families 
being  received  into  the  church.  “A  certain 
woman  named  Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple,  of 
the  city  of  Thyatira,  one  that  worshiped  God, 
heard  us,  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened  to 
give  heed  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken 
by  Paul.  And  when  she  was  baptized,  and 
her  household,  she  besought  us,  saying,  If 
ye  have  judged  me  to  be  faithful  to  the  Lord, 
come  into  my  house  and  abide  there.”  “And 
he  (the  Philippian  jailer)  took  them  the 
same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed  their 
stripes,  and  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his,  im¬ 
mediately”  (Acts  16:15,  33).  “And  I  bap¬ 
tized  also  the  household  of  Stephanas”  (1 
Cor.  1:16). 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  can  you  say  of  the  origin  of  the  Church? 

2.  How  was  it  illustrated  in  the  experience  of  Cain 
and  Abel? 

3.  What  form  did  the  Church  take  under  Abraham? 

4.  How  was  this  form  modified  under  Moses? 

5.  Who  was  the  head  of  the  Church  under  the  Old 
Dispensation. 

6.  When  did  the  Church  begin  to  be  called  a  king¬ 
dom? 

7.  What  did  Jesus  mean  by  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  the  kingdom  of  Heaven? 

8.  How  was  the  Church  organized  under  the  New 
Dispensation? 

9.  What  officers  are  recognized  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  Church? 

10.  Who  are  the  members  of  the  Church? 

11.  Why  are  the  children  of  believers  members  of 
the  Church? 


Chapter  XVII. 


The  Government  of  the  Church 

1.  During  the  history  of  the  Church  three 
forms  of  Church  government  have  been  rec¬ 
ognized,  and  are  in  existence  at  the  present 
time.  These  are  known  as  the  Prelatical,  the 
Presbyterial  and  the  Independent.  The  Pre¬ 
latical,  which  is  monarchical  in  form,  ap¬ 
pears  under  different  aspects — in  the  Roman 
Catholic,  which  is  the  purest  form  of  it,  the 
Church  being  ruled  by  a  hierarchy  culminat¬ 
ing  in  the  Pope  of  Rome;  the  Episcopal, 
which  appears  in  the  Church  of  England  and 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  America, 
and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Un¬ 
der  the  Prelatical  form  of  government  three 
orders  of  ministers  are  recognized — deacons, 
priests  and  bishops.  The  Presbyterial  form 
of  government  is  most  Scriptural.  Only  two 
classes  of  officers  are  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament — elders  and  deacons — and  these 
should  be  found  in  every  truly  organized 
Church.  The  elders  are  teaching  elders  and 
ruling  elders,  both  exercising  the  same  func¬ 
tions  in  the  courts  of  the  Church;  but  the 
teaching  elder  also  having  the  special  func¬ 
tion  of  ministering  to  the  people  in  an  au¬ 
thoritative  way  from  the  pulpit,  as  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  have  it,  they  “labour  in  the  word  and 

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in  teaching”  (1  Tim.  5:17).  The  deacons 
have  special  charge  of  the  material  interests 
of  the  Church,  and  care  for  the  poor.  They 
are  subordinate  in  authority  to  the  Session, 
which  is  composed  of  teaching  and  ruling 
elders.  The  Independent  form  of  govern¬ 
ment  recognizes  each  congregation  of  be¬ 
lievers  as  independent  of  the  others.  The 
authority  rests  in  the  whole  congregation, 
and  the  government  is  purely  democratic  in 
form.  Each  church  is  an  independent  or¬ 
ganization,  and  controls  all  of  its  own  affairs, 
even  to  ordaining  and  sending  out  ministers, 
without  reference  to  other  organized 
churches.  There  is,  indeed,  an  association  of 
churches,  but  they  have  no  organic  authority 
when  acting  together. 

2.  Under  the  Presbyterian  form  of  gov¬ 
ernment  there  is  a  series  of  Church  courts. 
This  series  begins  with  the  Session,  which 
rules  the  individual  Church  or  organization ; 
the  Presbytery,  which  consists  of  a  group  of 
churches  within  a  certain  district ;  the  Synod, 
which  consists  of  a  group  of  Presbyteries 
within  a  larger  district ;  and  the  General  As¬ 
sembly,  which  consists  of  all  the  Churches, 
Presbyteries  and  Synods  within  the  bounds 
of  the  Church.  Not  all  of  these  courts  are 
necessary  to  the  existence  of  a  Church,  but 
they  naturally  grow  out  of  an  extended  and 
developing  organization. 

3.  The  discipline  of  the  Church  has  ref¬ 
erence  to  the  conduct  of  the  membership.  It 
resides  in  the  courts  of  the  Church.  The 


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89 


Session  deals  with  the  individual  member, 
who  has  the  right  to  appeal  to  Presbytery, 
Synod  and  the  General  Assembly.  The  Gen¬ 
eral  Assembly,  being  the  highest  court,  fin¬ 
ally  settles  the  questions  referred  to  it.  There 
are  three  forms  of  discipline-admonition, 
suspension  and  excommunication.  An  of¬ 
fending  member  of  the  Church  may  be  ad¬ 
monished  by  the  pastor,  or  by  the  Session. 
He  may  be  suspended  from  the  privileges  of 
the  Church  for  a  time,  or  he  may  be  entirely 
excommunicated. 

4.  To  the  Church  belongs  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  the  sacraments,  Baptism  and  the 
Lord’s  Supper. 

Baptism  is  the  initiatory  rite  or  ordi¬ 
nance,  by  which  a  penitent  believer  is  for¬ 
mally  received  into  the  membership  of  the 
Church.  It  consists  in  the  application  of 
water  by  an  ordained  minister  to  the  body 
of  the  believer,  or  to  the  child  of  a  believer, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Immersion  of  the 
entire  body  of  the  believer  or  child  in  water 
is  not  necessary  to  baptism.  The  sprinkling 
or  pouring  of  water  upon  the  head  is  a  true 
and  Scriptural  method  of  baptism,  and  is 
practiced  by  a  large  majority  of  the  different 
branches  of  the  Church  of  Cod  upon  earth. 

The  Lord’s  Supper  is  a  sealing  and  me¬ 
morial  ordinance  instituted  bv  our  Lord  Him- 
self  in  commemoration  of  His  sufferings  on 
our  behalf ;  and  is  observed  by  all  true  be¬ 
lievers  in  obedience  to  His  command.  Only 


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Hand  Book  of  Theology 


believers  in  Christ  who  have  been  baptized 
have  the  right  to  partake  of  the  Lord’s  Sup¬ 
per,  and  the  children  of  believers  who  have 
come  to  years  of  discretion  and  have  formal¬ 
ly  accepted  Christ  for  themselves,  and  have 
been  admitted  by  the  Session  of  the  Church 
into  the  Communion  of  the  Church. 

These  two  sacraments  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  answer  to  the  sacraments  of  the  Old 
Testament — Circumcision  and  the  Passover. 
Baptism  in  the  New  Testament  takes  the 
place  of  Circumcision  in  the  Old  Testament, 
and  the  Lord’s  Supper  in  the  New  Testament 
takes  the  place  of  the  Passover  in  the  Old 
Testament. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  forms  of  Church  government  are  rec¬ 
ognized?  Describe  each  of  them 

2.  Which  form  of  Church  government  has  best 
Biblical  authority? 

3.  What  two  classes  of  officers  are  recognized  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church? 

4.  How  many  Church  Courts  are  there? 

5.  Name  and  describe  them. 

6.  What  is  Church  Discipline? 

7.  By  whom  is  it  to  be  administered? 

8.  What  three  forms  of  discipline  are  recognized? 

9.  What  are  the  sacraments  of  the  Church? 

10.  Describe  each  of  them. 

11.  To  what  ceremonies  of  the  Old  Testament  do 
the  sacraments  of  the  New  Testament  cor¬ 
respond? 


Chapter  XVIII. 


The  Functions  of  the  Church 

The  functions  of  the  Church,  in  addition 
to  the  exercise  of  discipline  and  the  adminis¬ 
tration  of  the  sacraments,  consists  in  the 
conduct  of  public  services  of  worship,  such 
as  the  preaching  of  the  Word,  songs  of  praise 
and  prayer.  It  is  the  purpose  and  the  object 
of  the  Church,  in  obedience  to  the  command 
of  the  Master,  to  use  the  means  of  grace  for 
the  cultivation  and  development  of  the  spir¬ 
itual  life  of  the  membership.  It  should  teach 
the  members  that  they  are  to  be  witnesses 
for  Christ  in  the  world.  The  Church  must 
be  continually  concerned  to  execute  the  great 
commission  of  the  Saviour,  the  Head  of  the 
Church,  to  disciple  all  nations.  The  Church 
is  strictly  an  evangelical  body,  and  this 
should  be  characteristic  of  every  individual 
organization.  The  main  work  of  the  Church 
is  missionary  work,  and  it  can  never  fulfill 
its  true  functions  until  the  Gospel  has  been 
preached  to  every  creature. 

In  carrying  out  this  great  commission  it 
is  necessary  for  the  Church  to  educate  its 
members.  The  young  people  committed  to 
its  care  must  be  taught  religious  truth,  and 
the  Church,  therefore,  is  fulfilling  its  true 
function  when  it  establishes  and  maintains 

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religious  institutions,  schools,  colleges,  sem¬ 
inaries,  hospitals,  orphans’  homes.  All  such 
institutions  should  be  established  and  fos¬ 
tered  by  the  Church  in  the  fulfillment  of  the 
great  commission  of  the  Master. 

The  Church,  as  a  spiritual  body,  is  to  be 
kept  separate  from  the  State.  Our  Lord 
Himself  said,  “My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world.”  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however, 
that  the  State,  as  well  as  the  Church,  is  a 
divine  institution.  “The  powers  that  be  are 
ordained  of  God.”  The  ruler  “is  a  minister 
of  God  to  thee  for  good”;  “For  this  cause 
ye  pay  tribute  also:  for  they  are  ministers 
of  God”  (Romans  13:1,  4,  6).  The  Church, 
therefore,  should  not  forget  the  exhortation 
of  the  apostle  Paul,  “I  exhort,  therefore,  first 
of  all,  that  supplications,  prayers,  interces¬ 
sions,  and  thanksgiving  be  made  for  all  men : 
for  kings  and  for  all  that  are  in  high  places : 
that  we  may  lead  a  tranquil  and  quiet  life  in 
all  godliness  and  gravity”  (1  Timothy  2  :l-2) . 
But,  while  all  this  is  true,  the  Church  should 
not  interfere  in  affairs  of  State,  and  should 
not  look  to  the  State  for  support.  It  should 
be  supported  by  the  voluntary  offerings  of 
its  membership. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  In  addition  to  the  exercise  of  discipline  and  ad¬ 
ministration  of  the  sacrament'”  what  are  the 
other  functions  of  the  Church? 

2.  In  what  sense  is  every  Church  a  missionary  body? 

3.  What  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  in  regard  to 
education? 

4.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  State? 

5.  Why  should  not  the  Church  interfere  in  State 
affairs? 


PART  V. 


Eschatology,  or  the  Study  of  the 
Last  Things 


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Chapter  XIX. 


State  of  the  Soul  After  Death 

Eschatology  treats  of  the  state  of  the  soul 
after  death ;  the  resurrection ;  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  the  final  judgment,  the 
end  of  the  world,  the  rewards  of  the  right¬ 
eous  and  the  punishment  of  the  wicked; 
heaven  and  hell. 

1.  The  State  of  the  Soul  after  Death .  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Protestant 
Church,  the  soul  of  man  continues  conscious¬ 
ly  to  exist  after  the  dissolution  of  the  body. 
The  soul  is  not  merely  a  function  of  the  body 
and  perishes  with  it,  according  to  the  ma¬ 
terialist,  nor  does  it  sleep  during  the  in¬ 
terval  between  death  and  the  resurrection; 
but  it  continues  to  live  consciously.  Our  Lord 
said  to  the  thief  on  the  cross:  “Today  shalt 
thou  be  with  Me  in  Paradise.”  Paul  says :  “I 
have  a  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ.” 
In  the  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  our 
Lord  paints  Lazarus  as  consciously  living 
“in  Abraham’s  bosom,”  and  Dives  as  con¬ 
sciously  suffering  torment  in  hell. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Church  also  is  that 
there  is  a  state  of  existence  which  intervenes 
between  death  and  the  resurrection.  As  to 
the  fact  of  an  intermediate  state  there  is  no 
diversity  of  opinion  among  Christians,  but 

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there  is  diversity  of  opinion  in  regard  to  its 
nature.  “The  souls  of  believers  are,  at  their 
death,  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and  do  im¬ 
mediately  pass  into  glory;  their  bodies,  be¬ 
ing  still  united  to  Christ,  do  rest  in  their 
graves  till  the  resurrection.”  We  do  not  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  souls  of  believers  have  to  pass 
through  purgatory,  as  taught  by  the  Roman 
Catholics,  in  which  they  are  gradually  puri¬ 
fied  and  made  ready  for  the  enjoyment  of 
eternal  happiness  in  heaven.  There  is  noth¬ 
ing  in  the  Bible  to  teach  that  the  souls  of 
believers,  after  death,  are  subjected  to  such 
an  experience. 

2.  The  Next  Point  is  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Resurrection.  Let  us  understand  clearly 
that  the  resurrection  does  not  apply  to  the 
soul,  but  to  the  body  of  man.  The  soul  does 
not  die,  and  therefore  it  cannot  be  said  to 
rise  again  from  the  dead,  except  where  these 
terms  are  applied  to  the  resurrection  of  the 
soul  from  the  deadness  of  sin  in  regenera¬ 
tion.  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  means 
the  resurrection  of  the  body.  Christ  says : 
“The  hour  is  coming  in  the  which  all  that 
are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  His  voice,  and 
shall  come  forth;  they  that  have  done  good, 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life;  and  they  that 
have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  dam¬ 
nation”  (John  5:28-29).  This  can  only  have 
reference  to  the  body,  because  the  soul  is 
not  in  the  grave.  Paul  also  says,  “He  that 
raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall  also 
quicken  your  mortal  bodies  by  His  Spirit 


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that  dwelleth  in  you”  (Romans  8:11).  It  is 
evident  from  such  expressions  as  these,  and 
also  from  the  apostle  Paul’s  argument  in 
the  fifteenth  chapter  of  1  Corinthians,  that 
the  resurrection  applies  to  the  body,  and  not 
to  the  soul.  Paul  says,  “It  is  sown  in  cor¬ 
ruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruption;  it  is 
sown  in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory;  it  is 
sown  in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in  power;  it 
is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual 
body.”  The  whole  of  this  wonderful  discus¬ 
sion  is  about  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 
The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  as  held  by 
all  Christians  is  found  in  the  Apostles’  Creed, 
in  which  the  believer  says,  “I  believe  in  *  * 
*  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  resurrection  of 
the  body,  and  life  everlasting.” 

In  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  resurrection 
body  we  have  not  much  definite  information 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  believe  that  the 
Scriptures  justify  us  in  holding  to  the  view 
that  our  bodies  after  the  resurrection  will  re¬ 
tain  human  form,  and  that  they  will  be  glori¬ 
fied  likenesses  of  our  present  earthly  bodies. 
We  shall,  therefore,  be  able  to  recognize  our 
friends  in  heaven.  The  resurrection  body 
will  be  spiritual,  incorruptible,  immortal 
and  glorious.  It  will  be  like  the  glorified 
body  of  the  risen  and  ascended  Saviour. 


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QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  the  meaning  of  Eschatology? 

2.  What  subjects  are  treated  of  under  this  head? 

3.  What  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  the  soul  after  death? 

4.  What  is  the  state  of  the  believer  after  death? 

5.  What  is  the  state  of  the  unbeliever  after  death? 

6.  What  does  the  Church  teach  about  an  inter¬ 
mediate  state? 

7.  Does  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  apply  to 
the  soul?  or  to  the  body?  or  to  both  of  them? 

8.  What  is  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body? 

9.  Give  some  passages  of  Scripture  in  support  of 
this  view. 

10.  What  do  the  Scriptures  teach  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  resurrected  body? 


Chapter  XX. 


The  Second  Coming  of  Christ 

This  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  subject,  so 
many  points  are  involved  in  it,  and  such  a 
difference  of  opinion  has  prevailed  in  the 
Church  as  to  the  interpretation  of  prophe¬ 
cies  concerning  the  second  coming  of  Christ 
that  it  is  hard  to  arrive  at  a  simple  and  in¬ 
telligent  statement  which  is  satisfactory  to 
the  student. 

There  are  several  things  involved  in  the 
common  doctrine  of  the  Church  in  regard 
to  the  second  coming  of  Christ. 

1.  The  first  point  is  that  the  Scriptures 
teach  us  that  Christ  is  to  come  a  second  time, 
and  this  will  be  a  personal,  visible  and  glo¬ 
rious  advent  of  the  Son  of  God.  Although 
some  contend  that  the  teachings  of  the  New 
Testament  concerning  the  second  coming  of 
Christ  have  reference  only  to  a  spiritual 
manifestation  of  his  power ;  yet  the  doctrine 
commonly  held  by  all  Christians  is  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  is  to  come  “the  second  time,  with¬ 
out  sin,  unto  salvation.”  It  would  be  impos¬ 
sible  to  cite  here  the  vast  number  of  pas¬ 
sages,  both  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the 
New,  teaching  this  doctrine.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  apostles  themselves  believed 
there  was  to  be  a  second  coming  of  Christ, 

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and  the  attitude  of  the  Church  according  to 
the  teaching  of  Paul  is  that  of  waiting  for 
His  coming  again. 

“And  then  shall  they  see  the  Son  of  Man 
coming  in  clouds  with  great  power  and 
glory”  (Matt.  16:27;  Mark  13:26;  Luke 
21 :27) .  “And  while  they  were  looking  stead¬ 
fastly  into  heaven  as  He  went,  behold  two 
men  stood  by  them  in  white  apparel,  who 
also  said,  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye 
looking  into  heaven?  This  Jesus,  who  was 
received  up  from  you  into  heaven  shall  so 
come  in  like  manner  as  ye  beheld  Him  going 
into  heaven”  (Acts  1:10-11).  “For  our  cit¬ 
izenship  is  in  heaven;  whence  also  we  wait 
for  a  Saviour,  the  Lord,  Jesus  Christ”  (Phil- 
ippians  3:20).  “For  they  themselves  report 
concerning  us  what  manner  of  entering  in 
we  had  unto  you;  and  how  ye  turned  unto 
God  from  idols,  to  serve  a  living  and  true 
God,  and  to  wait  for  His  Son  from  heaven, 
whom  He  raised  from  the  dead,  even  Jesus, 
who  delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come  (1 
Thessalonians  1:9-10).  “Behold,  He  cometh 
with  the  clouds ;  and  every  eye  shall  see  Him, 
and  they  that  pierced  Him ;  and  all  the  tribes 
of  the  earth  shall  mourn  over  Him”  (Rev¬ 
elation  1 :7) . 

2.  According  to  this  doctrine  several 
events  are  to  precede  the  second  advent  of 
Christ. 

(a)  The  first  is  the  universal  diffusion  of 
the  Gospel,  or,  as  our  Lord  expresses  it,  the 
ingathering  of  the  elect.  This  is  the  work 


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of  the  Christian  Church,  to  fulfill  the  great 
commission  of  the  Master  to  preach  the  Gos¬ 
pel  to  every  creature.”  Christ  taught  that 
the  Gospel  was  to  be  preached  to  all  nations 
before  His  coming.  We  learn  from  His  own 
words,  “This  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be 
preached  in  the  whole  world  for  a  testimony 
unto  all  the  nations;  and  then  shall  the  end 
come”  (Matt.  24 : 14) .  “And  the  Gospel  must 
first  be  preached  unto  all  the  nations”  (Mark 
13:10).  Paul  also  teaches  that  the  national 
conversion  of  the  Jews  will  not  take  place 
until  the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come 
in  (Romans  11 :25) . 

(b)  The  next  event  to  precede  the  advent 
of  Christ  is  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  which 
is  to  be  national.  The  original  promise  to 
Abraham  was  that  through  him  and  his  seed 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed. 
God  entered  into  covenant  with  ancient  Israel 
that  they  should  be  His  people,  and  He  would 
be  their  God  to  the  latest  generations.  He 
fulfilled  His  promise  to  send  a  Deliverer  and 
Redeemer  through  His  own  people.  This 
promise  having  been  fulfilled  may  be  regard¬ 
ed  as  a  guarantee  that  the  other  promises 
relating  to  His  people  shall  be  fully  accom¬ 
plished.  There  are  some  express  predictions 
in  the  Old  Testament  also  in  regard  to  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews:  “I  will  pour  upon 
the  house  of  David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  sup¬ 
plication  ;  and  they  shall  look  on  Him  whom 
they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for 


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him  as  one  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and 
shall  be  in  bitterness  for  him  as  one  is  in 
bitterness  for  his  first  born”  (Zech.  12:10). 
That  this  has  reference  to  a  national  conver¬ 
sion  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  it  is 
said  “The  land  shall  mourn  every  family 
apart”  (Zech.  12:12). 

This  matter,  however,  is  more  fully  and 
clearly  taught  by  the  apostle  Paul  in  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  his  epistle  to  the  Romans. 
It  is  there  taught  that  God  hath  cast  off  the 
Jews  as  a  nation  because  they,  through  their 
rulers,  had  rejected  Christ.  “He  came  unto 
His  own,  and  His  own  received  Him  not” 
(John  1:11).  This  rejection,  however,  was 
not  entire.  There  was  “a  remnant  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  election  of  grace”  (Romans  11:5), 
who  believed  in  Christ,  and  were  received 
into  His  kingdom.  This  rej  ection,  however,  was 
not  final,  and  was  only  to  continue  until  the 
bringing  in  of  the  Gentiles;  and  then,  Paul 
tells  us  that  “all  Israel  shall  be  saved.”  “For 
I  would  not,  brethren,  have  you  ignorant  of 
this  mystery,  lest  ye  be  wise  in  your  own 
conceits,  that  a  hardening  in  part  hath  be¬ 
fallen  Israel,  until  the  fullness  of  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  be  come  in;  and  even  so  all  Israel  shall 
be  saved;  even  as  it  is  written,  There  shall 
come  out  of  Zion  the  Deliverer ;  He  shall  turn 
away  ungodliness  from  Jacob;  and  this  is 
my  covenant  unto  them,  When  I  shall  take 
away  their  sins.  As  touching  the  gospel  they 
are  enemies  for  your  sake;  but  as  touching 
the  election,  they  are  beloved  for  the  Fath- 


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er’s  sake”  (Romans  11:25-28).  This  ap¬ 
parently  refers  to  the  Jews  as  a  nation. 
Whether  it  means  both  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
still  it  would  include  the  Jews  as  a  nation. 
This  conversion  of  the  Jews  comes,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  teaching  of  Paul,  before  the  second 
advent  of  Christ.  The  salvation  of  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  was  designed  to  provoke  the  Jews  to 
jealousy:  “By  their  fall,  salvation  is  come 
unto  the  Gentiles,  to  provoke  them  to  jeal¬ 
ousy”  (Romans  11:11);  and  the  mercy 
shown  to  the  Gentiles  was  to  be  the  means 
of  the  Jews  obtaining  mercy:  “Even  so  have 
these  also  now  been  disobedient  that  by  the 
mercy  shown  to  you  they  also  may  now  ob¬ 
tain  mercy”  (Romans  11 :31) .  Whether  the 
Jews  were  to  be  restored  to  their  own  land 
or  not  is  another  question,  which  we  have  not 
the  space  to  discuss  here. 

(c)  The  next  thing  to  precede  the  second 
advent  was  the  coming  of  anti-Christ.  In 
2  Thessalonians  the  apostle  Paul  discusses 
this  question.  “We  beseech  you,  brethren, 
touching  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  our  gathering  together  unto  Him,  to  the 
end  that  ye  be  not  quickly  shaken  from  your 
mind,  nor  yet  be  troubled,  either  by  spirit 
or  by  word,  or  by  epistle  as  from  us,  as  that 
the  day  of  the  Lord  is  just  at  hand.  Let  no 
man  beguile  you  in  any  wise,  for  it  will  not 
be,  except  the  falling  away  come  first,  and 
the  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdi- 
titon”  (2  Thessalonians  2:1-3). 


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It  seems  to  be  clear  from  this  passage  that 
anti-Christ  must  appear  before  the  second 
coming  of  the  Lord.  There  are  a  number  of 
views  concerning  this  question  which  cannot 
be  discussed  here.  Inasmuch,  also,  as  the 
apostle  John  says  that  there  are  many  anti- 
Christs.  “Little  children,  it  is  the  last  hour ; 
and  as  ye  heard  that  anti-Christ  cometh,  even 
now  have  there  arisen  many  anti-Christs, 
whereby  we  know  that  it  is  the  last  hour. 
*  *  *  Who  is  the  liar  but  he  that  denieth  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ?  This  is  the  anti-Christ, 
even  he  that  denieth  the  Father  and  the  Son.” 
(1  John  2:18,  22).  “And  every  spirit  that 
confesseth  not  Jesus  is  not  of  God:  and  this 
is  the  spirit  of  the  anti-Christ,  whereof  ye 
have  heard  that  it  cometh ;  and  now  it  is  in 
the  world  already”  (1  John  4:3). 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  is  the  Second  Coming  a  difficult  subject? 

2.  What  is  the  first  point  which  the  Scriptures  teach 
us  in  regard  to  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ? 

3.  What  is  the  first  event  that  precedes  the  Second 
Coming? 

4.  Quote  passages  supporting  this  view? 

5.  What  is  the  next  event  preceding  the  coming  of 
Christ? 

6.  What  reason  have  we  for  believing  that  the  Jews 
as  a  nation  will  be  converted? 

7.  Give  Paul’s  argument  on  this  subject  as  it  is 
found  in  the  11th  chapter  of  Romans. 

8.  What  is  the  next  event  preceding  the  coming  of 
Christ? 

9.  WThat  is  the  Church  doctrine  concerning  Anti¬ 
christ? 


Chapter  XXI. 


The  Resurrection 

There  are  certain  events  which  are  to  at¬ 
tend  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  These 
are,  the  general  resurrection  of  the  dead,  of 
the  just  and  the  unjust,  the  final  judgment, 
the  end  of  the  world,  and  the  consummation 
of  Christ’s  kingdom,  that  is  the  rewards  of 
the  righteous  and  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked,  heaven  and  hell. 

1.  The  General  Resurrection.  The  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  Church  is  that  there  will  be  a 
general  resurrection  of  the  just  and  of  the 
unjust.  Our  Lord  says,  “Marvel  not  at  this, 
for  the  hour  is  coming  in  the  which  all  that 
are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  His  voice,  and 
shall  come  forth;  they  that  have  done  good 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that 
have  done  evil  unto  the  resurrection  of  judg¬ 
ment”  (John  5:28,  29). 

Then  He  says,  “But  when  the  Son  of  Man 
shall  come  in  His  glory,  and  all  the  angels 
with  Him,  then  shall  He  sit  on  the  throne  of 
His  glory ;  and  before  Him  shall  be  gathered 
all  the  nations:  and  He  shall  separate  them 
one  from  another,  as  the  shepherd  separateth 
the  sheep  from  the  goats”  (Matt.  25:31-32). 
Paul,  in  his  speech  before  Felix,  stated  it  as 
his  own  faith,  and  that  of  his  fathers,  “that 

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there  shall  be  a  resurrection  both  of  the  just 
and  unjust”  (Acts  24:15).  This  general  res¬ 
urrection  shall  take  place  at  “the  last  day,” 
or  at  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  It  should 
be  said,  however,  that  the  common  pre-mil¬ 
lennium  doctrine,  which  is  held  by  many  or¬ 
thodox  Christians,  is  that  there  is  to  be  a 
resurrection  of  believers  when  Christ  shall 
come  to  reign  in  person  upon  the  earth  a 
thousand  years  before  the  end  of  the  world, 
and  the  risen  saints  are  to  reign  here  with 
Christ,  and  share  with  Him  the  glories  of 
His  reign.  After  this  shall  come  a  second 
resurrection,  or  judgment,  and  the  end  of  the 
world. 

2.  The  Final  Judgment.  The  doctrine  of 
the  Church  is  that  there  is  to  be  a  final  judg¬ 
ment  of  all  men,  both  of  the  righteous  and 
of  the  wicked.  This  shall  take  place  at  the 
end  of  the  world.  All  branches  of  the  Church 
— Roman  and  Greek  Catholics  and  Protes¬ 
tants — hold  to  this  doctrine.  The  final  judg¬ 
ment  is  a  definite  future  event,  when  the 
eternal  destiny  of  men  and  angels  will  be  de¬ 
termined  and  proclaimed.  The  Scriptures 
are  very  clear  on  this  doctrine :  “It  shall  be 
more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  than  for  thee”  (Matthew 
11:24).  “The  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world ; 
and  the  reapers  are  the  angels.  *  *  *  So  shall 
it  be  in  the  end  of  the  world :  the  angels  shall 
come  forth,  and  sever  the  wicked  from  among 
the  righteous”  (Matt.  13:39,  49).  “The 
word  that  I  spake,  the  same  shall  judge  him 


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in  the  last  day”  (John  12:48).  God  “hath 
appointed  a  day  in  which  He  will  judge  the 
world  in  righteousness  by  the  Man  whom  He 
hath  ordained”  (Acts  17:31).  “The  day  of 
wrath  and  revelation  of  the  righteous  judg¬ 
ment  of  God”  (Romans  2:5).  “Wherefore, 
judge  nothing  before  the  time,  until  the  Lord 
come”  (1  Cor.  4 :5) . 

Christ  is  to  be  the  Judge:  “For  neither 
doth  the  Father  judge  any  man,  but  He  hath 
given  all  judgment  unto  the  Son;  that  all 
may  honor  the  Son,  even  as  they  honor  the 
Father”  (John  5:22-23).  “He  gave  Him  au¬ 
thority  to  execute  judgment,  because  He  is 
a  Son  of  man”  (John  5 :27) .  Peter  says  that 
God  “charged  us  to  preach  unto  the  people, 
and  to  testify  that  this  is  He  who  is  ordained 
of  God  to  be  the  Judge  of  the  living  and  the 
dead”  (Acts  10:34-43).  Paul  on  Mars  Hill, 
in  Athens,  says  that  God  “hath  appointed  a 
day  in  which  He  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness  by  the  man  whom  He  hath 
ordained;  whereof  He  hath  given  assurance 
unto  all  men,  in  that  He  hath  raised  Him 
from  the  dead”  (Acts  17 :31). 

Paul  also  says,  “We  must  all  be  made  man¬ 
ifest  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ” 
(2  Cor.  5:10). 

It  is  the  Church’s  doctrine  that  the  judg¬ 
ment  is  not  a  process,  it  does  not  take  place 
at  death,  it  is  not  a  protracted  period;  but 


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that  it  will  take  place  at  the  second  coming 
of  Christ,  and  at  the  general  resurrection. 
“For  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  the  glory 
of  His  Father  with  His  angels;  and  then 
shall  He  render  unto  every  man  according  to 
his  deeds”  (Matt.  16:27).  “When  the  Son 
of  Man  shall  come  in  His  glory,  and  all  the 
angels  with  Him,  then  shall  He  sit  upon  the 
throne  of  His  glory:  and  before  Him  shall 
be  gathered  all  the  nations;  and  He  shall 
separate  them  one  from  another,  as  the  shep¬ 
herd  separateth  the  sheep  from  the  goats. 
*  *  *  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on 
His  right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Fath¬ 
er,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  *  *  * 
Then  shall  He  say  also  unto  them  on  the  left 
hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  the 
eternal  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels”  (Matt.  25:31-46). 

“Wherefore,  judge  nothing  before  the  time 
until  the  Lord  come,  who  will  both  bring  to 
light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness  and  make 
manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts ;  and  then 
shall  each  man  have  his  praise  from  God” 
(1  Corinthians  4:5).  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
“shall  judge  the  living  and  the  dead,  and  by 
His  appearing  and  His  kingdom”  (2  Timothy 
4:1). 


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109 


QUESTIONS 

1.  Mention  certain  events  which  are  to  attend  the 
Second  Coming  of  Christ. 

2.  What  is  the  doctrine  of  the  General  Resurrection? 
Mention  passages  supporting  it. 

3.  What  is  the  common  Pre-Millenium  doctrine  on 
this  subject? 

4.  What  is  the  Church’s  doctrine  of  the  Final  Judg¬ 
ment?  Mention  passages  supporting  it. 

5.  Who  is  to  be  the  Judge?  Mention  passages  in 
proof  of  this. 

6.  Is  the  Final  Judgment  to  be  a  process  or  an 
event?  Give  passages  in  support  of  this  doctrine. 


Chapter  XXII. 


The  End  of  the  World 

3.  The  Church  doctrine ,  founded  upon  the 
Scriptures ,  is  that  this  world  shall  come  to 
an  end.  “Of  old  didst  thou  lay  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  earth;  and  the  heavens  are  the 
work  of  thy  hands.  They  shall  perish,  but 
thou  shalt  endure ;  yea,  all  of  them  shall  wax 
old  like  a  garment:  as  a  vesture  shalt  thou 
change  them,  and  they  shall  be  changed” 
(Psalm  102:25-26).  Also,  “Lift  up  your 
eyes  to  the  heavens,  and  look  upon  the  earth 
beneath;  for  the  heavens  shall  vanish  away 
like  smoke,  and  the  earth  shall  wax  old  like 
a  garment” ;  “For,  behold,  I  create  new  heav¬ 
ens  and  a  new  earth ;  and  the  former  things 
shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into 
mind”  (Isaiah  51:6,  65:17).  Our  Lord  says, 
“Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my 
words  shall  not  pass  away”  (Luke  21:33). 
“The  creation  itself  also  shall  be  delivered 
from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  lib¬ 
erty  of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God” 
(Romans  8:21).  One  strong  passage  is 
found  in  the  second  epistle  of  Peter,  “By 
which  means  the  world  that  then  was,  being 
overflowed  with  water,  perished ;  but  the 
heavens  that  now  are,  and  the  earth,  by  the 
same  word  have  been  stored  up  for  fire,  be- 

110 


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111 


ing  reserved  against  the  day  of  judgment 
and  destruction  of  ungodly  men.  But  forget 
not  this  one  thing,  beloved,  that  one  day  is 
with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a 
thousand  years  as  one  day.  *  *  *  But  the  day 
of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief:  in  the 
which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a 
great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  be  dis¬ 
solved  with  fervent  heat,  and  the  earth  and 
the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burned 
up.  Seeing  that  these  things  are  thus  all  to 
be  dissolved,  what  manner  of  persons  ought 
ye  to  be  in  all  holy  living  and  godliness,  look¬ 
ing  for  and  earnestly  desiring  the  coming  of 
the  day  of  God,  by  reason  of  which  the  heav¬ 
ens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the 
elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat.  But, 
according  to  His  promise,  we  look  for  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness”  (2  Peter  3 :6-13) .  Then  John 
says  in  Revelation,  “I  saw  a  great  white 
throne,  and  Him  that  sat  upon  it,  from  whose 
face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away ;  and 
there  was  found  no  place  for  them.”  ‘‘I  saw 
a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth ;  for  the  first 
heaven  and  the  first  earth  are  passed  away ; 
and  the  sea  is  no  more”  (Revelation  20:11, 
21:1).  Some  have  supposed  that  such  pas¬ 
sages  refer  to  great  political  and  moral  rev¬ 
olutions.  But  this  explanation  does  not  sat¬ 
isfy  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
especially  the  passage  found  in  2  Peter.  The 
apostle,  in  that  passage,  evidently  refers  to 
the  destruction  of  the  world  by  the  deluge, 
and  predicts  that  the  future  destruction  of 


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it  will  be  by  fire.  This  destruction  of  the 
world,  however,  is  not  to  be  annihilation. 
Even  though  the  world  is  to  be  burned  up, 
that  does  not  mean  the  destruction  of  its 
substance.  The  reference  undoubtedly  is  to 
the  regeneration  or  renovation  of  the  earth. 
Nature  suffered  through  the  fall  of  man,  and 
is  to  be  renovated  through  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ.  Our  bodies  are  natural 
bodies ;  and  as  they  are  to  be  changed  in  the 
resurrection,  so  there  is  to  be  “new  heavens 
and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteous¬ 
ness.”  The  renovation  or  regeneration  of 
the  earth  refers,  not  to  the  whole  material 
universe,  but  to  our  earth  and  what  pertains 
to  it.  The  Bible  is  for  man,  and  we  are 
taught  in  it  that  the  earth  was  cursed  be¬ 
cause  of  man’s  sin.  That  curse  is  removed 
when  man’s  redemption  is  complete.  The 
result  of  this  change  will  be  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.  The 
common  opinion  is  that  this  renovated  earth 
is  to  be  the  final  seat  of  Christ’s  kingdom. 

4.  The  rewards  of  the  righteous  and  the 
punishment  of  the  wicked .  The  Church  doc¬ 
trine  is  that  at  the  consummation  of  all 
things  God  will  reward  His  people,  and  will 
punish  the  wicked. 

(a)  The  principal  reward  of  the  Christian 
is  that  he  will  dwell  with  the  Saviour 
throughout  eternity  in  heaven.  “Then  shall 
the  King  say  unto  them  on  His  right  hand, 
Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 


Hand  Book  of  Theology 


113 


kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  world”  (Matthew  25:31-46).  The 
place  of  the  final  abode  of  the  righteous  is 
sometimes  called  a  house — “In  my  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions”  (John  14:2). 
Sometimes  it  is  called  a  city,  “For  he  looked 
for  the  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose 
builder  and  maker  is  God”  (Hebrews  11 :10) . 
It  is  spoken  of  in  Revelation  as  “the  Holy 
City,  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down  out  of 
heaven  from  God”  (Revelation  21:2).  It  is 
also  spoken  of  as  “a  better  country;  that  is, 
a  heavenly”  (Hebrews  11:16).  The  blessed¬ 
ness  of  the  saints  in  heaven  is  described  in 
such  language  as  this:  “Things  which  eye 
saw  not,  and  ear  heard  not,  and  which  en¬ 
tered  not  into  the  heart  of  man,  whatsoever 
things  God  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him” 
(1  Cor.  2 :9) .  We  are  assured,  however,  that 
“There  shall  be  no  curse  any  more;  and  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be 
therein :  and  His  servants  shall  serve  Him ; 
and  they  shall  see  His  face;  and  His  name 
shall  be  on  their  foreheads.  And  there  shall 
be  night  no  more;  and  they  need  no  light  of 
lamp,  neither  light  of  sun,  for  the  Lord  God 
shall  give  them  light,  and  they  shall  reign 
for  ever  and  ever”  (Revelation  22:3-5). 

(b)  The  Scriptures  also  teach  that  God 
will  punish  the  wicked.  “And  the  King  shall 
*  *  *  say  also  unto  them  on  the  left  hand, 
Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  eternal 
fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels.  *  *  *  And  these  shall  go  away  into 


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eternal  punishment”  (Matt.  25:41,  46).  In 
Revelation,  in  the  description  which  John 
gives  us  of  the  judgment,  found  in  the  twen¬ 
tieth  chapter,  we  have  these  words,  “And  if 
any  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life, 
he  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.”  “But  for 
the  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and  abomin¬ 
able,  and  murderers,  and  idolaters,  and  all 
liars,  their  part  shall  be  in  the  lake  that 
burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone;  which  is 
the  second  death”  (Revelation  20:15,  21:8). 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  the  Church  doctrine  as  to  the  end  of  the 
world?  Give  passages  in  support  of  this  view. 

2.  Can  these  passages  be  explained  as  referring  to 
great  revolutions? 

3.  Does  the  end  of  the  world  mean  annihilation? 

4.  Does  it  refer  to  the  whole  material  universe,  or 
to  our  earth? 

5.  What  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  in  regard  to 
the  rewards  of  the  righteous?  Give  passages  in 
proof  of  this. 

6.  What  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  in  regard  to 
punishment  of  the  wicked?  Give  passages  in 
proof. 


“Finis” 


